India, Gulf Cooperation Council sign MoU to facilitate consultations
Riyadh (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has held a "productive" meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf during which the two leaders signed an MoU on the mechanism of consultations between India and the six-nation regional bloc.
Jaishankar arrived here on Saturday on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to further strengthen relations between the two countries. It is his first visit to Saudi Arabia as External Affairs Minister.
On the first day of his visit on Saturday, Jaishankar met GCC Secretary-General and exchanged views on current regional and global issues.
"Productive meeting with @GCC Secretary-General Dr Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf. Signed the MoU on the mechanism of consultations between India and GCC. Exchanged views on the current regional and global situation and the relevance of India-GCC cooperation in that context," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.
The GCC is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
India enjoys traditionally cordial relations and cooperation with the GCC.
India's old, historical ties with the GCC states, coupled with increasing imports of oil and gas, growing trade and investment, and the presence of approximately 6.5 million Indian workers in the region, are of vital interest to India, according to the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.
India's economic linkage with the GCC has increased steadily, especially due to the growth in oil imports.
During 2020-21, India's exports to GCC were USD 28.06 billion. The bilateral two-way trade during the period was USD 87.36 billion.
Earlier this year, there was an unease in India's ties with some Muslim-majority countries, including Gulf nations, over the controversial remarks of two former BJP leaders on the Prophet Mohammad.
All six GCC nations had condemned the remarks.
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Modi's Israel visit not good for Mahatma's India: Mehbooba
Srinagar (PTI): Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel was against the country's policy and not a good sign for Mahatma Gandhi's India.
She called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "criminal" who is afraid of visiting many countries lest he be arrested.
"I think our country's policy is against it. Today, the whole world opposes Israel PM Netanyahu. The International Criminal Court has indicted him. He does not visit many countries for fear of arrest. Modi, who represents 140 crore people, goes there and hugs a criminal, meets and talks to him, I think, it is not a good sign for our country, for Gandhi's India," Mehbooba told reporters in Anantnag.
On panchayat elections due in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba said they should be conducted because the people at the ground-level are beset with problems.
"People believed that after the government was formed, their difficulties would be resolved, but they are not being addressed. So, Panchayat elections should take place, and I request the people not to see a party, but elect good persons so that they serve them tomorrow," she said.
Asked about the anti-corruption bureau raid on a house of a brother of Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chowdhary, the PDP chief said, "The raid on the brother of the deputy CM makes it clear on whose backing the brother does everything."
"You should ask this question to the deputy CM," the PDP leader added.
VIDEO | Khanbal, J&K: On PM Narendra Modi's visit to Israel, PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti says, "PM went and hugged a criminal. He (Netanyahu) has been shunned by the world, banned from entering many countries."
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 26, 2026
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/JuvwoEShxZ
