Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was in India on a three-day visit to focus on new areas of cooperation like security, counter-terrorism, nuclear, space sector and energy sector.
- This is the third visit to India by Sheikh Mohamed and the first as crown prince.
- The UAE is the third largest trading partner of India after the US and China.
- It is also the sixth largest source of India’s crude oil imports.
Bilateral Meeting – UAE’s ADNOC to store crude in India
After a bilateral meeting between MoS for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan and H. E. Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister for Energy of UAE, UAE’s national oil company, ADNOC, has agreed to store crude oil in India’s first of its kind strategic storage and give two-third of the oil to it for free.
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will store crude oil in India’s 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore strategic petroleum reserve using it as a wholesale storage capacity and sell to the Indian refiners whenever needed,
ADNOC was working with the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL) which is building the strategic reserve in Mangalore. Apart from this, India is also building underground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Both nations have signed 9 agreements which are listed as below:
- Cyber Crime – MoU on technical cooperation in cyber Space and combating cyber-crime between Ministry of Interior of UAE and the Ministry of Home Affairs, India.
- Participation of UAE institutional investors – MoU on establishing a framework for facilitating the participation of UAE institutional investors in infrastructure investment in India
- Renewable Energy Cooperation – It provides for bilateral cooperation through extensive projects, investments, cooperation in R & D in renewable and clean energy.
- Cooperation in the Exploration – MoU between UAE Space Agency and ISRO on cooperation in the area of space exploration and the peaceful use of outer space
- Insurance regulations – MoU between the UAE’s Insurance Authority and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) aims at promoting cooperation in insurance regulations.
- Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation (EPCC) – The Cultural Exchange Programme 2016 – 2018 follows from the existing bilateral cultural agreement (1975) and provides for a range of cultural exchange activities under the new EPCC.
- Letter of intent – Between MSDE and National Qualification Authority (NQA), UAE on skill development and mutual recognition of qualifications
- Exchange information on trade – MoU between Dubai economic council and EXIM bank to exchange information on trade and business opportunities
- Currency Swap Arrangement – MoU on Indian Rupee (INR)/UAE Dirham (AED) Bilateral Currency Swap Arrangement between Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of UAE.
Keys UAE
- Capital – Abu Dhabi
- Currency – Dirham
- Prime Minister – Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
- President – Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
