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The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) invitation to Union foreign minister Sushma Swaraj as a 'guest of honour' for its foreign ministers summit last week in the UAE marked a particular success story for the present Indian government. Coming, as it did, in the immediate aftermath of the Balakot air strike, Swaraj's attendance marks a special significance in the session attended by OIC's 56 member, and five observer, states. The 'irony' was made more keen when Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, boycotted the meet in protest of his Indian counterpart's attendance.
India's presence at the OIC meet for the first time, highlighted not just the incremental success of New Delhi's 'West Asia outreach', but also how Islamabad's own 'tried and tested' formula in its dealings with India may have fallen into disrepair. While the OIC invitation to India is a diplomatic coup, the Narendra Modi administration's outreach to the Arab and Islamic world-despite the reputation that preceded the BJP-led government-arguably figures at the top of its diplomatic engagements in its almost-five-year tenure.