NEW DELHI: India and the Arab League have committed to doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, as their top diplomats met in New Delhi for the India–Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.India, Arab nations call for independent Palestinian state, ‘lasting peace’ in Middle East.
The foreign ministers’ forum is the highest mechanism guiding India’s partnership with the Arab world. It was established in March 2002, with an agreement to institutionalize dialogue between India and the League of Arab States, a regional bloc of 22 Arab countries from the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Delhi meeting on Saturday was the first gathering in a decade, following the inaugural forum in Bahrain in 2016.
India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that the forum was taking place amid a transformation in the global order.
“Nowhere is this more apparent than in West Asia or the Middle East, where the landscape itself has undergone a dramatic change in the last year,” he said. “This obviously impacts all of us, and India as a proximate region. To a considerable degree, its implications are relevant for India’s relationship with Arab nations as well.”
Jaishankar and his UAE counterpart co-chaired the talks, which aimed at producing a cooperation agenda for 2026-28.
“It currently covers energy, environment, agriculture, tourism, human resource development, culture and education, amongst others,” Jaishankar said.
“India looks forward to more contemporary dimensions of cooperation being included, such as digital, space, start-ups, innovation, etc.”
According to the “executive program” released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the roadmap agreed by India and the League outlined their planned collaboration, which included the target “to double trade between India and LAS to US$500 billion by 2030, from the current trade of US$240 billion.”
Under the roadmap, they also agreed to link their startup ecosystems by facilitating market access, joint projects, and investment opportunities — especially health tech, fintech, agritech, and green technologies — and strengthen cooperation in space with the establishment of an India–Arab Space Cooperation Working Group, of which the first meeting is scheduled for next year.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing momentum in Indo-Arab relations focused on economic, business, trade and investment ties between the regions that have some of the world’s youngest demographics, resulting in a “commonality of circumstances, visions and goals,” according to Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“The focus of the summit meeting was on capitalizing on the economic opportunities … including in the field of energy security, sustainability, renewables, food and water security, environmental security, trade, investments, entrepreneurship, start-ups, technological innovations, educational cooperation, cultural cooperation, youth engagement, etc.,” Quamar told Arab News.
“A number of critical decisions have been taken for furthering future cooperation in this regard. In terms of opportunities, there is immense potential.”
India and Arab nations have called for a “sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine” and reaffirmed their commitment to “achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East, according to international law, relevant UN resolutions.”
A declaration was issued on Saturday evening following the 2nd India-Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in the capital of New Delhi, which was co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates.
Top diplomats from Arab nations, as well as the Arab League secretary general, attended the meeting, held after a 10-year hiatus.
Dubbed the “Delhi declaration,” it said: “Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East, according to international law, relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
“They called for a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, living side by side in peace with Israel. Both parties supported the practice of inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”
The two sides welcomed the outcomes of the 2025 Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit, which culminated in the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
“…they urged all concerned parties to fully comply with the implementation of the agreement and noted the launch of the Arab-Islamic plan for relief, recovery, and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip,” according to the declaration.
It added: “They further underscored the necessity of ensuring adequate, sustained, and unimpeded access for humanitarian and relief assistance throughout all of the Strip, guaranteeing the continued operations of relief agencies and international and humanitarian organizations…”
The Gaza peace agreement ended a two-year Israeli war that killed nearly 71,800 Palestinians and wounded more than 171,400. The assault has destroyed roughly 90% of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, with UN estimates placing reconstruction costs at about $70 billion.
Both sides also welcomed the robust trade between India and the Arab states, which is over $240 billion, and “encouraged measures to further enhance it.”
