India busy working out details to sign UAE MoUs

Abu Dhabi - hese agreements will expand bilateral ties to new heights, said T.P. Seetharam, India's Ambassador to the UAE.

 After the successful state visit of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Indian officials are busy working out details to sign a number of important MoUs with the UAE, which includes an agreement on the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Other MoUs that will be signed soon include an agreement on building Adnoc's strategic petroleum reserves in India. These agreements will expand bilateral ties to new heights, said T.P. Seetharam, India's Ambassador to the UAE. The ambassador briefed the media on Shaikh Mohammed's visit to India where he was greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the tour, both sides signed nine MoUs and investment agreements in India's National Infrastructure Investment Fund. Both sides also signed an MoU on the renewable energy sector, as India seeks to build 175 gigawatt power capacity in 10 years.
A few MoUs were also signed to forge cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the UAE Space Agency, which is planning to launch a Mars Probe by 2021.
Seetharam said other MoUs were signed on technical cooperation in cyber space, combating cyber crime and on currency swaps. "I expect there would be more MoUs signed in the coming weeks and months, either with great fanfare or quietly," the ambassador said. On a follow-up of the agreements signed, the ambassador said: "I would say it is already started."
He said there could be ministerial visits or those by high officials soon to take the discussion further.
The key agreements which would be signed in coming weeks would include the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement. This partnership is very important and that is what these two visits of Modi and Shaikh Mohammed are all about. This agreement would lay ground for a new partnership between the two nations.
Also, both sides will sign an MoU on the mutual protection of classified information which is a pre-requisite before entering into a serious defence cooperation, the ambassador said.
The draft agreement on strategic petroleum reserves is ready after resolving tax-related issues, he said.
The ambassador said there is huge interest from India's public and private sector oil and gas companies to invest in the UAE's downstream and upstream projects. However, till now, they have not participated in any bidding.
During the trip, the UAE Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui had a fruitful interaction with 40 top executives in the Indian oil sector who gave presentations on the prospects of business and setting up projects here.
The ambassador said the UAE, which has invested in semi-conductor chip-making facilities in New York, Germany and Singapore, is considering to set up a project in India, where there is a great scope for such a facility to boost the production of iPads, notebooks and smartphones. "If such a project is set up, it could cost $7 billion to $8 billion," he said.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com