The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Louanes Mekeram, headed the Algerian delegation participating in the Second Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum, held in the Indian capital (New Delhi) on January 30-31, 2026.
Before the start of the forum’s proceedings, the Secretary-General was received by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as part of the welcoming ceremony organized by the latter for the heads of the participating Arab delegations.
On this occasion, Louanes Mekeram affirmed Algeria’s desire to strengthen cooperation with India, especially in the pharmaceutical industry sector, and in facilitating the transfer of Indian expertise and technology.
The session allowed for a review of the status of Arab-Indian relations and a discussion of issues of mutual concern with the aim of elevating them to broader horizons within a strategic vision that seeks to integrate economic, political, and cultural dimensions into comprehensive and integrated cooperation.
In his intervention during the forum’s opening session, the Secretary-General noted the significant development witnessed in the Arab-Indian partnership in recent years, both in terms of the intensity of political meetings and the diversity of cooperation areas. He also highlighted the urgent importance of adopting a realistic and responsible approach in evaluating what has been achieved since the launch of the Arab-Indian partnership in 2008.
He further stressed the necessity of giving greater importance to the political dimension for both the Arab and Indian sides within a systematic framework for consultation on regional and international issues of common interest, primarily the Palestinian cause, which remains fundamental to Algeria, in addition to issues of regional security, counter-terrorism, combating violent extremism, and hate speech.
Louanes Mekeram took the opportunity of this meeting to praise the distinctive nature of Algerian-Indian relations, owing to their historical depth and the diversity of their dimensions, which was evident in India’s support for the struggle of the Algerian people against colonialism and the convergence of their positions within the “Non-Aligned Movement” and the “Group of 77,” in defense of the independence of national decision and the right of peoples to self-determination.
The Secretary-General lauded the qualitative momentum witnessed in Algerian-Indian relations across many fields, embodying the desire of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and his Indian counterpart, Droupadi Murmu. This is particularly notable following the visit of the latter to Algeria in October 2024, which constituted a new building block in the path of intensifying and diversifying the strategic bilateral partnership linking the two friendly countries.
