India and the United Arab Emirates are eyeing a string of defence, infrastructure and other deals during the visit of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince which stared yesterday, an official said.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day trip aimed at bolstering trade which reached $59bn last year.
The trip comes six months after Modi became the first Indian premier in three decades to visit the UAE, as he seeks to attract more foreign investment, including from the Gulf nation’s sovereign wealth fund.
“The visit takes place after we decided to elevate our relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the PM’s August visit,” India’s foreign ministry secretary (east) Anil Wadhwa told reporters.
The crown prince, deputy chief of the UAE armed forces, arrived late yesterday accompanied by a large business delegation.
He holds talks with Modi today.
Counter-terrorism is expected to be on the agenda, with India seeking exchanges of information with the UAE about regional security threats.
The UAE is part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group that has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.
Delhi hopes to advance agreements on jointly producing defence equipment, as India undertakes a massive modernisation of its ageing military, Wadhwa said, without specifying any deals.
India is also seeking to secure investment in major infrastructure projects as the government overhauls its dilapidated railway and road networks.
“A number of new agreements and MoUs (memoranda of understanding) are proposed to be signed during the visit of the crown prince to expand the areas of our co-operation,” Wadhwa said.
“This list is still being updated. I cannot give the number right now but as we speak the negotiations are still going on.”
Abu Dhabi is the largest of seven emirates making up the UAE, which is India’s third largest trading partner after the US and China and is a major supplier of oil.
The welfare of expatriate Indians in the UAE, numbering around 2.6mn, is also likely to come up for discussion, Wadhwa said.
This is the third visit to India by Sheikh Mohamed and the first in his capacity as crown prince.
Today he will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan following which he will lay a wreath at Rajghat.
Sheikh Mohamed will tomorrow leave for Mumbai where he will visit the Bombay Stock Exchange and meet Indian business leaders.
UAE state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said ahead of the visit the two countries were seeking to increase trade by 60% within five years.
“India is a growing energy market particularly with the Chinese demand slowing. So far we haven’t seen very much action by the Indian energy companies in the UAE, so (it) might be interesting to see if Indian energy companies are going to play more of a role here,” Robin Mills, chief executive officer of Dubai-based Qamar Energy, said.
Mills said there was a lot of room for investment in the Indian energy sector, particularly in power generation.
“A memorandum of understanding already exists between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), and the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve. India is seen as an important customer for UAE oil and the co-operation could stretch to UAE investment in developing energy reserves of gas and oil in India,” Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at Emirates NBD, said.