New Delhi: For the seventh time since he assumed office as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will be visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week, a country with a huge Indian diaspora and with which India shares a comprehensive and strategic partnership.
The highlights of this visit will be the inauguration of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi and Modi’s special keynote address at the World Government Summit in Dubai. He will also address the Indian community at an Ahlan Modi event to be held at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.
According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan during which the two leaders will discuss ways to further deepen, expand and strengthen the strategic partnership between the countries and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Modi’s visit to the UAE in 2015 was the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years. “Modi’s visit in 2015 received unprecedented state protocol and courtesies and extraordinary warmth from the UAE leadership, signalling a new paradigm in bilateral relations and ensuing in the process a higher political trajectory and new path-breaking initiatives,” R Dayakar, former Indian Ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, who also served in the West Asia desk of the External Affairs Ministry, told ETV Bharat.
“The UAE has long recognised India’s pivotal position in the region that is needed for regional peace, stability and economic development. That position took an added salience in the bilateral relations after the Cold War came to an end and after the first and second Gulf Wars (in 1991 and 2003 respectively) redefined the security contours of the Gulf regimes.”
India-UAE relations are based on the pillars of economic cooperation, diaspora influence and contribution, security and defence cooperation, energy cooperation and cultural and educational exchanges. In terms of economic cooperation, India-UAE trade reached $85 billion in 2022-23 making the Gulf nation India’s third largest trading partner in that fiscal year after China and the US. The UAE is also the second largest export destination of India after the US with an amount of nearly $31.61 billion for the year 2022-23.
The UAE’s investment in India is estimated to be around $20-21 billion of which $15.5 billion is in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) while the remaining is portfolio investment between April 2000 and March 2023, according to figures released by the External Affairs Ministry.
In 2022-2023, the UAE was the fourth biggest FDI investor for India. The UAE has committed to invest $75 billion in India’s infrastructure sector over a period of time. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the principal Sovereign Wealth Fund of the UAE and one of the world’s largest such funds, is an anchor investor in India’s National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) through an investment of $1 billion.
The NIIF is an Indian government-owned company, which maintains infrastructure investment funds for international and Indian investors. The objective behind creating this organisation was to catalyse capital into India and support its growth needs across sectors of importance.
During Modi’s upcoming visit, India and the UAE are expected to sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) that has already been approved by the Indian cabinet. India and the UAE already share a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The UAE is the only country with which India has both CEPA and BIT in place.
In terms of security and defence cooperation, prospective avenues encompass the manufacturing and advancement of defence equipment, joint military exercises, particularly naval drills, the exchange of strategic and doctrinal information, and technical cooperation regarding intermediate jet trainers, among others. Notably, recent times have witnessed substantial improvements in defence cooperation between the two countries, with a specific focus on training, the provision of defence resources and the execution of regular exchange initiatives.
Last month, India and the UAE held Desert Cyclone 2024 in Rajasthan, the first-ever joint army exercise between the two countries. While India and the UAE have been participating in the bilateral air force exercise termed Desert Eagle since 2016 and the joint naval exercise Zayed Talwar since March 2018, the inaugural two-week-long edition of Desert Cyclone in 2024 holds the potential not only to strengthen the ties between the two nations, but also to serve as a model for other Gulf countries seeking to enhance defence cooperation with India.
India is recognised as a key military player and the concept of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) is gaining popularity among Gulf nations. There is a growing trend of diversification in their engagements, with a noticeable inclination towards involving India more closely in the defence collaborations of these countries.
In terms of energy cooperation, India and the UAE achieved a significant trade milestone by successfully executing their first crude oil transaction using the Local Currency Settlement (LCS) mechanism in August last year. India and the UAE have maintained strong and enduring energy collaboration, with the UAE playing a crucial role in India’s energy security strategy. The foundation of their bilateral trade has been laid upon petroleum and its derivatives, making substantial contributions to both economies.
India, having already adopted a local currency basis for purchasing crude from the UAE, took another significant step as GAIL inked an agreement earlier this year to acquire 0.5 million metric tonnes of natural gas from the Emirates. This move aligns with India’s strategy to diversify its sources of gas procurement and reduce dependence on a single Gulf country. In 2023, India had previously committed to purchasing 1.2 million metric tonnes of LNG from the UAE, emphasising its commitment to broadening its gas supply channels.
The UAE is also home to a 3.5 million-strong Indian diaspora. The highlight of Modi’s visit this time will be the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu Mandir, the first Indian temple in Abu Dhabi. In August 2015, the UAE government announced the decision to provide land for building the temple. During his stay in Abu Dhabi, Modi will also address the Indian community in an event dubbed Ahlan Modi (Arabic for ‘Hello Modi).
Apart from Abu Dhabi, Modi will also visit Dubai where he will deliver a special keynote address at this year’s World Government Summit. The summit brings together leaders in government for a global dialogue about governmental processes and policies with a focus on the issues of futurism, technological innovation and other topics. The summit acts as a knowledge exchange hub between government officials thought leaders, policymakers and private sector leaders and as an analysis platform for the future trends, issues and opportunities facing humanity.
According to Dayakar, West Asia is divided between status quo countries and expansionist powers, a strong, powerful and stable India with a tradition of strategic restraint and an economic upswing under decisive leadership is in the UAE’s core interest.
“India is an anchor of stability in an area of turmoil and also a partner in development with its rules-based orderly economy,” he said. “With India responding to the UAE in the same political wavelength, it is not surprising that exceptional trust has come to exist between the two leaderships as is evident from recent bilateral interactions.”
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