The dramatic aspect of Mohammed bin Zayed's visit is that it is taking place just six months after the path-breaking tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE in August last year.
Published: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 5:01 PM
Last updated: Fri 12 Feb 2016, 5:03 PM
There has been palpable excitement about the visit of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to India for nearly a week. UAE newspapers have been awash with front page stories, interviews and comments, editorials and op-ed page articles, with headlines such as: 'UAE, India set to reach new heights', 'Abu Dhabi to New Delhi was never this close' and 'UAE, India set for a smart partnership'. An article by an Emirati commentator was headlined: UAE, India have the power to shape the future".
The dramatic aspect of Mohammed bin Zayed's visit is that it is taking place just six months after the path-breaking tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE in August last year. In between, we have had the joint commission in Delhi at foreign minister level and the visit of the Indian finance minister, Arun Jaitley, in November.
UAE leaders wish to take their country's ties with India, enriched by centuries' old connectivities, to areas and levels that are relevant to the challenges and opportunities of contemporary times; in short, they seek a "comprehensive strategic partnership" that encompasses political, economic and cultural relations that are important to the interests of both countries and will bind them in an embrace of mutual understanding and support in the years to come.
The challenges are very clear: The Middle East today is engulfed in contention and conflict, where state and non-state forces have mobilized primeval animosities and scratched at subterranean fault lines to unleash unspeakable horrors upon their neighbours on the basis of intolerant interpretations of their beliefs or the revival of early disputes that divided their faith at its inception.
The opportunities are also aplenty: besides being an energy and economic centre of global standing, the UAE is also in the vanguard of "smart" government. It now has youthful ministers, men and women, with portfolios of tolerance, happiness, youth affairs and community development, thus integrating youth, values, technology and governance in a seamless amalgam.
The new relationship being shaped during Shaikh Mohammed's visit has taken account of both these aspects of the regional scenario. The two countries have agreed that they will act jointly against the scourge of extremism and will also pool their resources to combat the allure of jihad, most potently projected through modern-day social media that use the diction and content that appeal to disgruntled and marginalized youth across the world.
They have gone further: they have agreed to boost their security and defence ties. This takes into account the fact that the Middle East no longer has an external hegemonic power to shape and influence the political order of the region; now, the region's nations have themselves to assume responsibility for the security of their realm. Here, countries that have a direct and abiding interest in the stability of the Middle East have to step forward and engage with the nations in the region that are divided by distrust and even "existential" fear of their rivals, and promote mutual confidence. India, with its historical links, its energy security interests, its trade and investments ties, and its eight million-strong community, is an obvious partner in promoting regional stability.
However, such a strategic role will only gain substance if it is anchored in a solid and substantial economic relationship. Here again the leaders of the two countries have responded constructively. The ground for this had already been prepared during Modi's visit last year when UAE had announced the setting up of a $ 75 billion fund for infrastructure development in India.
Now, the UAE has specified the areas in which it will invest: railways, ports, roads and highways, housing, and hydrocarbon and renewable energy, in all of which it has state-of-the- art capabilities, as any visitor to Dubai will affirm. India has declared that the UAE will be its "preferred partner" in regard to hydrocarbon projects. The two sides have also agreed to promote ties between their financial and insurance entities and in cyber security. But, they have also gone further to areas that will resonate in later years: cooperation in nuclear power and space, where India has acknowledged expertise and achievement of international standard.
But, none of these plans will have much value if the Middle East is not at peace. It is experiencing challenges emerging from the slow passing away of an old order and the even slower shaping of a new order to replace it. These cataclysmic transitions are accompanied by painful conflicts and disruptions. India and the UAE, bound by civilisational bonds and shared interests and respectful of plurality and accommodation, can together bring to the Middle East the balm of tranquillity and the promise of cooperation and prosperity.
In the joint statement issued after Modi's visit last year, the two countries had agreed to "work together to promote peace, reconciliation, stability, inclusiveness and cooperation in the wider South Asia, Gulf and West Asia region". On his arrival in Delhi, Shaikh Mohammed reiterated this when he said that "the UAE looks forward to effective Indian contributions in finding just solutions to the problems in the Middle East"; he noted that India was well-equipped in this regard on account of its foreign policy that had "poise, balance and wisdom, and enjoyed wide acceptance regionally and globally".
Indo-UAE cooperation for regional peace will be the most important outcome of Shaikh Mohammed's visit to India.
- The author is the former Indian ambassador to the UAE
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