Modi, UAE president discuss bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday reviewed bilateral ties and agreed to deepen and diversify the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday reviewed bilateral ties and agreed to deepen and diversify the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides.

(PTI)

The UAE leadership rolled out the red carpet for Modi when he made a brief stopover at Abu Dhabi on his way back from a visit to Germany. The UAE president personally received Modi at the airport so that the two leaders could hold talks there instead of the prime minister having to drive into the city.

The external affairs ministry said the main purpose of Modi’s visit was to convey his condolences on the death of the former president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, last month. He also congratulated Mohamed bin Zayed on his election as the third president of the UAE.

The UAE is an important source of oil for India, and Modi’s stopover is also significant because it comes amid reports that Europe could start looking at long-term oil supply contracts from the region as it moves away from Russian oil in the wake of that country’s invasion of Ukraine. India would be keen to protect its share of UAE oil.

This was the first high-level visit between the two countries since the controversy over derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed by two former BJP spokespersons. While several West Asian countries, such as Kuwait, Qatar and Iran, summoned Indian envoys to lodge a protest, the UAE denounced the remarks but also welcomed the action taken by BJP against the spokespersons.

The external affairs ministry’s readout on the visit made no mention of the controversy.

Modi and Mohamed bin Zayed reviewed aspects of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and the comprehensive economic partnership agreement signed by the two sides at their virtual summit on February 18. The trade deal, which entered into force on May 1, is expected to boost trade and investment.

“Both leaders reiterated their commitment to further deepen and diversify the India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

Two-way trade during fiscal 2021-22 was worth $72 billion. The UAE is India’s third largest trade partner and second largest export destination. Foreign direct investment from the UAE to India has continuously increased over the past few years and currently stands at more than $12 billion.

At their virtual summit, the two leaders also released a vision statement that included a roadmap for cooperation in coming years in areas such as trade, investment, renewable energy, food security, health, defence, education and people-to-people ties. The leaders expressed satisfaction that the two sides continued to forge closer partnerships in these areas.

Modi thanked Mohamed bin Zayed for taking “great care” of the 3.5 million Indians in the UAE, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. He invited the UAE president to visit India at an early date.

This was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since August 2019, when Modi had visited Abu Dhabi. Modi tweeted that he was “touched by the special gesture of my brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of coming to welcome me at Abu Dhabi airport”.

Footage showed the two leaders embracing on the tarmac. Mohamed bin Zayed was joined at the airport by other members of the royal family, such as National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun, deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour, Sheikh Hamed, the managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah.

The prime minister stopped over in Abu Dhabi while flying back from Germany, where he participated in two outreach sessions of the G7 Summit.