I arrived in India a year ago in the Diwali season. During my time here, the United Arab Emirates-India relationship has continued to flourish as the people of our two nations, tied together by history, culture, and amity, work together to realise common ambitions and aspirations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit 2023 in New Delhi (PTI)
The vision of mutual prosperity that guides our sense of bilateral purpose has been accelerated by high-level visits and robust policymaking. The ignited momentum must be attributed to the foundational strengths of our relationship: The success of the Indian diaspora in the UAE; the business-friendly opportunities extended to Emirati and Indian entrepreneurs; and the wide range of UAE-India alignments that have strengthened our partnership. Both nations are demonstrating greater convergences on key issues, and India’s ability to leverage multilateral consensus makes it a reliable, strategic partner for the UAE.
The success of the UAE-India relationship must also be attributed to the optimism of India’s cultural ethos, which pervades everything the nation does. I was privileged to get a glimpse of this DNA of modern India during my visits to 10 states, seeing firsthand the vibrancy of India’s arts, the rich tapestry of its culture, and the liveliness of its markets. I was also privileged to know more about Indians in India, as well as Indians who have made the UAE their second home.
The progress on trade and investment remained at the top of the agenda during my state visits. The common theme that emerged from those visits, during which I interacted with chief ministers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, is the strong, pro-growth intent that is defining infrastructure, business, and developmental projects across India’s states. I also had the privilege to discuss issues of bilateral nature with India’s Cabinet ministers, emphasising the importance of jointly driving the vision our leaders foresee for the UAE-India strategic partnership. Recently at the 11th meeting of the UAE-India High Level Joint Task Force on Investments, a memorandum of understanding was signed for cooperation and investment in a large variety of industries and advanced technologies. The recently concluded G20 was yet another manifestation of the rich bank of our mutual trust in the form of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). In the build-up to the Delhi Declaration, UAE delegations travelled across the country to participate in 18 high-level ministerial events covering themes including business, culture, developmental issues, finance, climate change, the energy transition, trade and investments, jobs, health, and education. Across these priority areas, the G20 deliberations and outcomes have affirmed to the UAE that both countries share common development priorities.
In the realm of energy particularly, we stand together in our vision of an inclusive, just, and pragmatic energy transition towards the Paris goals. We now look forward to cooperating closely with New Delhi on those objectives throughout the UAE COP28 Presidency. For COP28 and other multilateral forums such as I2U2 and the trilateral with France (UFI), we will continue to work together to set agendas that are beneficial for the world.
Cognisant of India’s global importance as a strategic and trusted ally, the UAE has calibrated its high-level engagements and agreements towards outcomes that create synergy as positive second-and third-order effects. We are working swiftly to foster new collaboration opportunities for Indian small and medium businesses with UAE counterparts through the recently established UAE-India CEPA Council (UICC), highlighting to them the Emirates’ role as a valued business destination, as a market, and as a trade hub and launchpad for the larger Middle East/North Africa (MENA) market and beyond. This is the focal point of our planned schedule of the Start-up and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) roadshow events being organised by the UICC. Through our interaction at the state level with events like Vibrant Gujarat 2024, we continue to build momentum and add new dimensions to our bilateral ties.
Today, I have a deeper insight and appreciation of the priorities and aspirations of India, of its hard-working and warm people, and of its thriving communities and ecosystems. As I transition into my second year in India, I look forward to exploring more places off the diplomatic trail and to endless interactions and conversations with Indians in both countries!
Abdulnasser Alshaali is ambassador of the UAE to India. The views expressed are personal
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