1030 hrs, December 2, 2008, FICCI Auditorium, New Delhi.
Your Excellency, Mr. Amre Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League,
Excellencies, Ministers of Culture
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a matter of great honour for me to address this gathering on such a landmark event in India-Arab relations. Let me first welcome His Excellency Mr. Amre Moussa. I also deeply appreciate that several Arab countries including Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Oman, Morocco, and Egypt are being represented in the India-Arab Forum at Ministerial or Deputy Ministerial-level, though some of them have not been able to be physically present here today with us.

The Heads of State / Government and Ministers, in their Retreat on the eve of the United Nations Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to review the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, at Doha “unanimously condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai over the past 2 days, called for the perpetrators to be swiftly brought to justice, and expressed solidarity with the people and Government of India”.

November 27, 2008
New Delhi
Dear Citizens,

The dastardly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai last night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign countries. I offer my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and sympathies to those injured. The Government will take all necessary measures to look after the wellbeing of the affected families, including medical treatment of injured.

India and Egypt, both co-founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, On Tuesday sought to transform their ties into a strategic partnership by signing five pacts, including an extradition treaty, and agreed to jointly combat terrorism.

In keeping with the commitment of India to provide humanitarian assistance for the internally displaced and affected civilians in Northern Sri Lanka, the Government of India on 13th November 2008 dispatched nearly 1,700 metric tonnes of relief material mobilised by the State Government of Tamil Nadu. The humanitarian aid comprises of 80,000 ready-to-use family packs of rice, dal, sugar and other food items as well as clothing. The ship carrying 100 containers of relief material reached Colombo on 15th November. The High Commission of India in Colombo is facilitating the distribution to the affected population in Northern Sri Lanka through the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sri Lanka.