Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Abu Dhabi last week hold talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.During the bilateral talks following decisions were taken.

• In a boost to bilateral trade and investments,  India and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to start trade settlement in local currencies.
• India has signed an MoU with the Education and Knowledge dept of Abu Dhabi for setting up the IIT Delhi campus there.
• India and the UAE highlighted the importance of the global stocktake (GST) of collective action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and its successful conclusion at COP28 scheduled to be held in Dubai later this year.
• Both sides will take forward their cooperation in Green Hydrogen, solar energy and grid connectivity.
• Both sides also agreed to increase investment across the energy spectrum, including in India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve Programme.
• Both leaders reiterated their resolve to promote the reliability and resilience of food supply chains and expand food and agriculture trade, including through food corridor projects in India.
• The leaders resolved to further enhance bilateral partnership in the energy field, both in oil, gas, and renewable energy.

In India’s G-20 Presidency  the UAE is a “special invitee”.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/BASICS

India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) enjoy strong bonds of friendship which are founded on millennia-old cultural, religious and economic intercourse between the two regions. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established diplomatic relations in 1972.
UAE opened its Embassy in Delhi in 1972 & India opened its Embassy in Abu
Dhabi in 1973. The bilateral relations fundamentals is based on economic
engagement, diaspora relations, and strategic convergences.

Indians constitute roughly 30 per cent of the country’s population. With
robust flow of bilateral investments and an annual bilateral trade of about USD 85 billion, the UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner.
The influential Gulf nation is also a major exporter of crude oil to India.

In 2017 the bilateral relations were upgraded to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. In 2019 India launch of the ‘RuPay Card’ in UAE.

The deepening of energy ties was a highlight of the relations. The relationship has transformed from a buyer-seller relationship to
that of a strategic partnership in energy security, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) delivering the crude oil for storage in Mangalore Strategic reserve and a consortium of Indian oil companies acquiring a 10 per cent stake in the Lower Zakum Offshore oil field in Abu Dhabi. ADNOC and Saudi Aramco signed a framework agreement with Indian oil companies to set up a $44-billion (Dh161.6-billion) refinery in Maharashtra. Such contracts not only underline economic

 India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed on 18 February 2022 entered into force from 01 May 2022.CEPA—the UAE’s first-ever such partnership and India’s first CEPA in the GCC region

CONVERGENCE

India and the UAE also find a common footing on the emerging international strategic culture and multilateral reforms. Both voiced similar opinions on strategic issues such as the US dollar’s dominance in international trade, terrorism, and ending the hostilities in Ukraine. The bilateral partners also wish for a rules-based international order that prescribes and acknowledges emerging economies’ more significant role in the global economy.
These strategic convergences culminated in the formalisation of minilateral groupings, such as the India-Israel-US-UAE (I2U2);
 The I2U2, a promising initiative for economic cooperation and development, focuses on food security, energy security, water security, and climate change. The minilateral has acted swiftly and announced its first three projects in the UAE and India, with an investment of US$6 billion in desalination plants, clean energy projects, and food parks.

the India-UAE joint developmental projects in Africa and the India-UAE-France maritime trilateral. India, the UAE, and France recently conducted their maiden trilateral maritime exercise in the Gulf of Oman, signalling their willingness to collectively tackle traditional and non-traditional strategic challenges in the maritime sphere.