Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday (13th February), where he will have extensive meetings with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and inaugurate Abu Dhabi’s first Hindu temple.
The prime minister will make his seventh visit to the UAE since 2015, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which announced the trip on Saturday (10th February) and third in the past eight months.
Modi’s plans during his two-day stay
On the first day of his visit, Prime Minister Modi is going to address the Indian community at an event in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City. He will be inaugurating the BAPS Hindu Mandir in the UAE capital on February 14.
The relationship between Indian and UAE
Modi and Al Nahyan will discuss how to develop, expand, and reinforce the countries’ strategic cooperation, as well as share perspectives on regional and international topics of common concern, according to the statement.
“The prime minister will also meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president, prime minister and defence minister of the UAE,” the MEA stated.
It was recorded in a statement that the MEA gave that, “At his invitation, the prime minister will participate in the World Government Summit 2024 to be held in Dubai as the guest of honour and deliver a special keynote address at the summit.”
Following Modi’s milestone visit to the UAE in August 2015, bilateral relations among the two nations were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Signing of the agreements
Both nations signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in February 2022 and a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) System in July 2023 to encourage the usage of the Indian rupee and AED (United Arab Emirates dirham) in cross-border transactions.
According to official figures, the two nations are among their top trading partners, with bilateral commerce totaling around USD 85 billion in 2022-23. The UAE is also one of India’s top four investors in terms of foreign direct investment in 2022-23.
