ARAB LEAGUE (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - IR)

Context: India is launching a major outreach with key members of the Arab World through G20 to build momentum in strategic partnership and economic linkages.

• Besides Saudi Arabia, which is a G20 member, leaders of the UAE, Oman and Egypt are expected to attend the G20 Summit as invitees.

Arab League

• About: Arab League, also called League of Arab States (LAS), is an intergovernmental pan-Arab organisation of all Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Origin: It was formed in Cairo, Egypt on 22nd March 1945, following the adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944.
• The Arab League came into being after a Pact of the League was signed at Cairo on March 22, 1945 by the countries of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,  Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen that had achieved independence by then.
• The Pact was an initiative of the then Prime Minister of Egypt, Nahas Pasha, and was supported by the British government.
• The League was later joined by 14 other nations and the PLO.
• Palestine is considered independent de jure.
• Members: Currently, the League has 22 members.
• The Charter of the Arab League, also known as the Pact of the League of Arab States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. 
• Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that “the League of Arab States shall be composed of the independent Arab States that have signed this Pact.”
• 22 member states: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
• 5 Observer states: Armenia, Brazil, Eritrea, India and Venezuela.