NEW DELHI: India will host around 22 Arab foreign ministers at the 2nd India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Delhi on January 30-31, officials said, marking a major diplomatic gathering spanning West Asia and North Africa.The meeting may also feature Syria, which came under a new administration at the end of 2024. If Syria participates, it would be the first ministerial interaction between New Delhi and Damascus since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
India’s Joint Secretary for the West Asia and North Africa division, Suresh Kumar, had met Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani in July last year. The Arab League, founded in 1945 and headquartered in Cairo, includes Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has strengthened ties with the region through multiple visits, most recently to Jordan and Oman in December 2025. India has also elevated several ties with League members to strategic partnerships.