NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been invited as the "Guest of Honour" to attend the 46th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said the external affairs ministry in an official statement on Saturday.

The session is slated for March 1-2 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Indian minister will address the inaugural plenary as the "Guest of Honour," it added.

"We see this invitation as the desire of the enlightened leadership of the UAE to go beyond our rapidly growing close bilateral ties and forge a true multifaceted partnership at the multilateral and international level," said the statement.

"We see this invitation as a milestone in our comprehensive strategic partnership with the UAE. We also see this invitation as a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India's contribution to the Islamic world," the statement added.