BackNarendra Modi to discuss trade, cement energy partnership with UAE
In interview, Modi says India will build regular, effective cooperation in a full range of security challenges with UAE
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as part of a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. In a tweet soon after landing, Modi said he deeply appreciated the “kind gesture of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who received me at the airport."
Modi’s was scheduled to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and interact with Indian workers. Later in the evening, he was scheduled to be hosted for a private dinner by Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family, who heads the Abhu Dhabi Investment Authority.
“In a significant gesture five brothers of the HH Crown Prince also present to receive PM at the airport", foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
Ahead of arriving in Abu Dhabi, Modi said India was looking to forge a strategic partnership with the UAE. The visit, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years (the last one was Indira Gandhi) also aims to attract investment and cementing an existing energy partnership.
Modi’s visit comes as the Gulf region is in a state of geopolitical flux given Iran’s agreement last month with the international community on suspect nuclear programme and the revocation of sanctions on the Shia country. Many countries in the region have been wary of the nuclear agreement with new alliances emerging like the one between Jewish Israel and the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia – both of whom are against the Iran nuclear deal. India has announced that Modi will be travelling to Israel soon and New Delhi played host to the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif on Friday.
In an interview to the Khaleej Times published Sunday, Modi made it clear that India was keen to maintain partnerships with all countries in the region.
“India is uniquely blessed to have good relations with all countries in the region," Modi said.
“I have always believed that regional or bilateral problems are best solved by the countries involved. We have often seen the consequences of outside interference. India has always abided by the principle of non-interference in other countries and has consistently supported dialogue as a means to resolve all issues," he said.
On ties with the UAE, Modi said:“We have a range of common security and strategic concerns in the region, including terrorism and extremism. So, India and UAE have everything to be a top priority for each other."
On the future course of ties, Modi said he would “like to see a truly comprehensive strategic partnership evolve between our two countries. I want to see the UAE as our foremost trade and investment partner.
“We want to work together in advanced areas of science and technology. We would build regular and effective cooperation in a full range of security challenges. Our armed forces would engage with each other more. We will work together more closely in international forums and in addressing regional challenges. We will nurture our cultural and educational links. There are no limits to our relationship. In short, in every walk of life, we should turn to each other as a matter of habit," he added.
One of Modi’s key priorities during the visit would be to persuade the UAE administration to invest some of its $800-billion sovereign wealth fund in Indian infrastructure.
The leaderships of the two countries will discuss investment, with Modi expected to provide assurances on the investment climate in India given the less than satisfactory experiences of companies like the Etisalat and EMAAR, according to Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at the New Delhi based Jawarharlal Nehru University. Investments from the UAE so far have amounted to $10 billion -- $3 billion in direct investment and the rest through the stock market.
According to government data, India-UAE trade, valued at $180 million per annum in the 1970s, is currently around $60 billion, making UAE India’s third largest trading partner in 2014-15 after China and the US. The UAE was the second largest export destination for India ($33 billion for 2014-15). For UAE, India was the largest trading partner for the year 2013 (over $36 billion in non-oil trade).
With the UAE accounting for 2.6 million expatriate Indians – more than the number of Indian-Americans in the US – reaching out to them will be high on Modi’s agenda.
“We are proud of our Indian community which is not only contributing to the progress and development of the host country, but also participating in the economic development of India through their remittances. I have no doubt that with the overall economic reforms programme in progress, they will find India an attractive, stable and secure destination for their investment and savings," Modi told the Khaleej Times.
According to Ishrat Aziz, a former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the latter is key to India’s economic calculus. “The UAE was and will continue to play a major role in the oil trade. For India, there is no growth without energy and the countries of the Gulf are the most cost effective sources of energy." Energy-deficient India sourced 189.43 million tonnes of crude oil from abroad last year and the UAE was one of the top 10 sources of crude oil in 2014-15, according to an Indian government official.
Also high on Modi’s agenda will be security cooperation. In the past, the UAE was one of the backers of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan alongwith Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. An Indian aircraft hijacked by Islamic militants was flown to the UAE from India before finally landing in Kandahar in December 1999. India is keen to develop a cooperative relationship with the UAE on security aspects as well, said the official cited above.
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