In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Prime Minister of India to visit the UAE in 34 years. This visit was reciprocated by the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India in 2016. The India-UAE relationship was formally elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2017. ‘Home away from Home’ was how PM Modi described the UAE while addressing the Indian diaspora during his visit to the UAE in 2018. The bonhomie and personal rapport shared by the two leaders was evident when Prime Minister Modi was awarded Zayed Medal, the United Arab Emirates’ highest civilian award, in 2019.

In times of COVID- 19 pandemic, nine million citizens were stranded in the GCC countries, including the UAE. They were repatriated under the Vande Bharat Mission from the UAE. According to the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI), at the peak of the oil price war in March 2020, India, in a futile attempt, tried to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to allow them to park their excess oil stock in India’s strategic petroleum reserve. Eventually, India ended up buying oil stocks from countries holding excess supply to build up stocks while prices remain low.

The establishment of the Abraham Accords in 2020 was an opportunity to normalise the relations between the UAE and Israel. A unique partnership among India, the United States, Israel and the UAE – (I2U2) dubbed as the ‘West Asian Quad’ has been codified with the first-ever summit-level meeting on July 14, 2022. India, the UAE and France trilateral cooperation completed the maiden maritime partnership exercise by the respective three navies on June 7-8 2023. This trilateral initiative serves as a forum to promote the design and execution of cooperation projects in the fields of energy, in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity particularly in the Indian Ocean region. Such initiatives redefine the contours of a multipolar world with bilateral relations facilitating a ‘smaller multilateral alliance’ providing space for agility and flexibility in areas of common geostrategic interests.

In a joint statement issued by India and the UAE on July 15, 2023, it was noted that India-UAE trade rose to US$85 billion in 2022, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner for the year 2022-23 and India’s second-largest export destination. India is the UAE’s second-largest trading partner. In February 2022, India became the first country with which the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Bilateral trade has increased by approximately 15 percent since the entry into force of the CEPA on May 1, 2022.

The UAE became the fourth largest investor in India in 2022-2023, compared to the seventh in 2021-2022. The bilateral high-level task force on investments is exploring avenues to further investment collaborations between nations. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) plans to set up a presence in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a financial free zone in Gujarat, in the next few months.

Prime Minister Modi’s fifth visit to the UAE in the last eight years produced three significant outcomes. First, the respective Central Banks of India and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the usage of local currencies for transactions – Indian Rupee and Dirham to avoid dependence on US Dollar. This step would enable India to cut down the transaction costs by eliminating dollar conversions. Second, the two countries also agreed to set up a real-time payment link to facilitate easier cross-border money transfers. Thirdly, India has decided to establish IIT Delhi offshore unit in Abu Dhabi. India is offering a Master’s program in Energy Transition and Sustainability that is operational by January 2024.

Both nations are jointly working on issues of climate change, particularly during India’s presidency of the G20 and the UAE’s upcoming presidency of COP28. In a joint statement on climate change, it was noted that both leaders highlighted the importance of the global stocktake (GST) and its successful conclusion at COP2. GST is an ambitious exercise designed to take stock of global collective action to achieve the objectives of the Conventions and the goals of the Paris Agreement. They emphasised the importance of implementing a balanced approach to the Global Stocktake at COP28 and called upon the nations to use the outcomes of GST to strengthen their national commitments including those on mobilisation of greater finance and support to the developing nations.

The UAE has expressed solidarity with India’s position on terror. The leadership of both nations in the joint statement reaffirmed their joint commitment to the fight against extremism and terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in all forms, at both the regional and international levels. They agreed to further deepen their bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism, terrorist financing, and extremism. India and the UAE were non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in 2022. The UAE endorses India’s bid for permanent membership of the reformed UNSC.

The UAE is home to 3.5 million Indians who are contributing to local markets and back home in the form of remittances. People-to-people contacts have cemented the bonds between India and the UAE. There are temples, churches and gurdwaras that the UAE leadership has encouraged signalling their vision of respect and tolerance. With the simplification of the Golden Visa rule, opportunities are set for Indian startups in Abu Dhabi therein avoiding the hassle of renewing the visa periodically. The local government has done away with the rule of having a UAE business partner in order to encourage startups and business opportunities for Indians.

This bilateral relationship has grown to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership. It is with the intent to explore emerging areas of collaboration and promote peace, stability, and prosperity. This was evident when the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was illuminated with the colours of the Indian national flag on the eve of PM Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi. India-UAE relations are on an upward trajectory.

 

-The writer is Assistant Professor, School of Law, Presidency University, Bangalore. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda