In a significant first, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will address the inaugural session of the foreign ministers’ conclave of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on March 1. She has been invited by the United Arab Emirates as a ‘guest of honour’.

India has never been invited to the OIC before and the latest development, coming at a time when the India-Pakistan tension is running high, is being seen as a diplomatic success. The foreign ministry said it was a “welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India, their contribution to its pluralistic ethos and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world”. OIC had denied India a seat when the grouping started.

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AFP