Setback for Pakistan, India to attend OIC meeting

In a major diplomatic victory for India and a setback for Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invited foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to attend the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) States, set to take place in Abu Dhabi on 1-2 March — the first such invite in five decades.

Swaraj will be the "guest of honour" at the inaugural plenary 46th meeting of OIC foreign ministers. The move is seen as a major blow to Pakistan that has consistently opposed India's entry into the grouping despite having the third-largest Muslim population in the world.

The OIC is a 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations. The development comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after a Pakistan-based Jaish e Mohammed terrorist group blew up a bus carrying Indian paramilitary troops in Kashmir on 14 February.