The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan was on a official 2-day state visit to India from 9th to 10th September 2024 at the invitation of the Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi.
- This marks his 1st official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
- He was accompanied by high-level delegation of senior ministers, senior officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government as well as large business delegation.
Highlights of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Visit to India:
On 8th September 2024, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan arrived in New Delhi, India. He was received by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), and was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour.
i.On 9th September 2024, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Zayed Al Nahayan called on President of India Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Delhi.
ii.Later, he visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi, there, he planted a sapling. Thus, he became the 3rd-generation leader from the UAE to plant a sapling at Rajghat, following Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, former President of the UAE (in 1992); Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan, President of the UAE (in 2016).
Bilateral Meeting between PM Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi:
On 9th September 2024, PM Modi held a bilateral meeting with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India.
- Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG); Union Minister Piyush Goyal, MoCI; along with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and other senior officials, were also present at the meeting.
Key Points:
i.During the meeting, both leaders expressed satisfaction over the significant progress achieved in recent years in the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) and discussed opportunities to further strengthen the partnership in all areas of cooperation.
ii.Leaders of both countries acknowledged the success of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and recent entry into force of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) which will boost the strong economic and commercial partnership between the two countries.
iii.They also emphasized the need to explore new areas of bilateral cooperation like: nuclear energy, critical minerals, green hydrogen, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technologies.
Note: India and the UAE had signed the CEPA in February 2022 and aims to take non-bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.
India-UAE Business Forum:
On 10th September 2024, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan attended the India-UAE Business Forum held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- The event was organised by the UAE Ministry of Economy and the UAE Embassy in India, in partnership with the MoCI, India.
- Theme of India-UAE Business Forum: “Beyond CEPA: Innovation and Future Ready Economies”.
- The forum has focused on key areas such as: healthcare, biotechnology, renewable energy, sustainability, AI, logistics and supply chains, and agricultural technology.
- During the forum, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi saw the exchange of various agreements as well as launch of initiatives to nurture bilateral and economic growth.
Key Initiatives:
i.During the event, Group 42 Holding Limited (G42), a leading AI development holding company based in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, presented NANDA, a hindi Large Language Model (LLM), which is developed to benefit local communities and promote the adoption of advanced technologies and support the growth of India’s AI ecosystem.
ii.During the event, the work on India-the UAE Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC) and Master Application for International Trade and Regulatory Interface (MAITRI) was launched.
- The VTC is an important part of India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). It will facilitate trade and reduce administrative processes, logistics, and transport costs and will enhance ease of doing business.
- MAITRI will integrate various Indian operational portals to facilitate interfacing with UAE portals.
- It will help to optimize efficiencies, leverage technologies, as well as will help to ease regulatory compliance, streamline operations and enhance transparency.
Key Agreements:
i.The UAE-based International Resources Holding RSC Limited, a natural resources extractive company; and a consortium of Indian companies: Oil India Limited (OIL); Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL); and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL) signed a strategic agreement for global collaboration in critical mineral supply chain exploration in both globally and within India.
ii.Abu Dhabi (the UAE)-based Lulu Group, a hyper-market and super-market retail chain company, has collaborated with Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), India to source and import Indian organic produce in the UAE.
iii.Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) has entered into a strategic partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India to enhance investment opportunities for the private sector between the UAE and India.
iv.Rorix Holdings, a global trading and trade facilitation company based in the UAE has signed a cooperation agreement with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), India’s leading logistics company to integrate advanced technologies into the infrastructure of India.
v.Global Jet Technic, aircraft maintenance organisation based in Dubai, the UAE, has signed agreements with 4 major Indian airline companies i.e. InterGlobe Aviation Services, Air India and Akasa Air, to provide aircraft line maintenance services for their fleets at the international airports inside the UAE, including Zayed International Airport (Abu Dhabi, the UAE).
India and UAE signed 5 key MoUs for cooperation in various fields
On 9th September 2024, the Government of India (GoI) and the Government of the UAE have signed 5 key Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in various fields including nuclear energy and petroleum.
The MoUs were signed following the bilateral meeting held between PM Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in New Delhi, Delhi.
Details of MoUs:
i.MoU on Nuclear Cooperation:
Emirates Nuclear Energy Company(ENEC), owned by the government of the UAE and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL), a Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) under the Department of Atomic Energy (DoAE), GoI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant Operations and Maintenance
- It provides a framework for possible collaboration between NPCIL and ENEC in relevant fields which include developing supply chains, sharing experience, and providing services for Operations and Maintenance of Nuclear Energy Plants, providing nuclear consulting services, among others.
- Signatories: The MoU was signed by Bhuwan Chandra Pathak, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), NPCIL, and Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ENEC.
ii.The Agreement for Long-term Supply of LNG:
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), a state-owned oil company of the UAE has signed a long-term agreement for the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), India’s largest integrated and diversified energy company.
- As per the agreement, ADNOC will supply 1 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from its Ruwais natural gas project for 15 years.
- This is the 3rd such long-term LNG supply agreement signed by ADNOC with Indian entities over a last year.
- Earlier, both IOCL and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) had signed long-term agreements for 1.2 MMTPA and 0.5 MMTPA, respectively with ADNOC.
iii.MoU between ADNOC and ISPRL:
ADNOC has also signed an MoU with the India Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under MoP&NG, India, to explore the additional opportunities for crude oil storage in India and the renewal of their storage and management agreement.
Note: In 2018, ISPRL had signed a MoU with ADNOC to explore the possibility of storing ADNOC crude oil at its underground oil storage facility at Padur, Karnataka.
iv.Production Concession Agreement between Urja Bharat and ADNOC:
Urja Bhart, a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petro Resources Limited, has signed a production concession agreement with ADNOC for the Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1. It is the 1st one for any Indian company operating in the UAE.
- As per this agreement, Urja Bharat will bring crude oil from the UAE to India.
v.MoU on Food Park:
A MoU was signed between the Government of Gujarat, India and Abu Dhabi (the UAE)-based Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC (ADQ) for the development of food parks in India.
- As per the MoU, for the initial phase, 3 food parks will develop in 3 cities of Gujarat namely, Gundanpara, Bavla and Ahmedabad. The food park project will commence in 2nd Quarter (Q2) of 2025.
- Under the MoU, the Government of Gujarat will provide ADQ and AD Ports to obtain detailed information regarding the site and guide in obtaining necessary permissions.
India-UAE Bilateral Trade:
i.The bilateral non-oil trade has reached USD 28.2 billion in the 1st half of 2024, an increase of 9.8% compared to the same period in 2023.
ii.As per the official data, both India and the UAE are among each other’s top trading partners with a bilateral trade of about USD 85 billion in Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23). Thus, the UAE is the 3rd largest trading partner after China and the United States of America (USA).
iii.Also, the UAE is among the top 4 investors in India in terms of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in FY23.
iv.The UAE emerged as the 2nd largest export destination, after the USA, with an amount of approximately USD 36 billion for FY24.
About United Arab Emirates (UAE):
President- Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan
Currency- United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED)
Capital- Abu Dhabi
