The KT Live Blog: India As It Is

Delhi - Ties between the UAE and India are on the upswing and this will be the Indian PM's second visit to the country.

In line with KT's promise to have boots on ground zero for stories that are close to our readers' hearts and events that matter the most to you, Khaleej Times' Chief Copy Editor Suneeti Ahuja-Kohli has embarked on a whistle-stop tour of India this week, days ahead of Indian PM Narendra Modi's visit to the UAE. Track Suneeti's live blog here as she brings you live images and bytes of ground realities of UAE-India ties from the Indian perspective, travelling across Bengaluru and New Delhi to capture the buzz and excitement of the two nations' growing friendship.

Ties between the the UAE and India are on the upswing and this will be the Indian PM's second visit to the country which hosts 2.5 million Indian expats. Last year, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE, was the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi where a UAE military contingent led the march-past. The possibilties are endless for the two countries who are keen on innovation and are ready to face to future.

Thursday, Feb 8

India eyes free trade agreement with UAE

India is looking at three key areas of cooperation to further deepen its relationship with UAE. First, a free trade agreement between UAE and India, or with the GCC; second, boost third country exports with UAE; third, to develop a joint service sector project with Abu Dhabi, says Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry, India.

India offers huge potential for UAE investment: Nirmala Sitharaman

"We are looking forward to a free trade agreement with the UAE, which we have proposed. We are also open to a FTA with the GCC. Besides, We would like to work with the UAE to boost third country exports to countries in Africa and beyond. For instance, for the first time we recently had a meeting in Uganda, where 11 East African countries participated. And we had taken Japanese industrial cooperation and another council from the UK. So in Africa, the UK and Japan could be partners for exports to Africa, and now extending the same with the UAE would be a wonderful idea. Lastly, we can work with GCC to make joint exports. We want to develop joint service sector project with Abu Dhabi, UAE and we are already discussing on these lines," adds Prabhu.

India is extremely impressed by the achievements of UAE and looks up to Abu Dhabi and the UAE on the whole as a hub for futuristic technologies. "Masdar is a shining example of the new age technology being used and promoted in the UAE," says Prabhu.

Annual foreign direct investment (FDI) from the GCC to India stood at $1.4 billion in 2016, according to UNCTAD, and a large chunk of these investments were from the UAE at more than $1billion. However, efforts are now to shore up these numbers and bring private sector into the fold.

"We are now looking at increasing the expanse of investments and bring in private sector into the fold. We want to have a forward looking pathway. The top leadership in the UAE is impressed that we are no longer talking just about projects but have a vision for India. They have said that they are willing to invest in the vision, and would also like to facilitate investments through interactions with other foreign sovereign wealth funds," said Suresh Prabhu, India's minister of commerce and industry.

India has also proposed a free trade agreement with the UAE and is awaiting a response on that. "UAE imports quite a lot in terms of food and agriculture items. We can ensure food security of the UAE through such agreements," said Prabhu.

In terms of FDI, India ranks high in terms of outbound investment into UAE. "We are into all spheres of activities.: Trading, services, steel manufacturing companies. But there are no big ticket investments so far. We are now looking at shoring such investments and have been talking at high level for it to realise."

The Narendra Modi-led government is looking to get its investments aligned to the GCC region. India is also looking to boost its agricultural exports and sees huge potential of growth in this space with the UAE.

"India for the first time had an agriculture export policy. I see a great scope in that even with the UAE. We can work together to find out the markets we can export and leverage," says Prabhu.

Moreover, the UAE and India can work together in third countries in a big way. "We are very impressed by the fact that a small country such as the UAE has two big sovereign wealth funds: ADIA and Mubadala. These aren't just among the biggest in the world in terms of size, but also the quality of investments they make. We are happy to note that for the first time in ADIA's history they are opening India desk and office. That's a phenomenal move as ADIA until now has been a neutral investor in any country," says Prabhu.

India is looking to cooperate with the UAE on defence cooperation, agriculture, SME, financial services and regulatory issues. The authorities here are also about to sign an MoU between Invest India and its UAE counterpart.

11:00am

Another beautiful start to the day in Delhi. Sun's out in its full glory, and making the day really pleasant. The traffic, however, continues to test patience. We are now travelling to the heart of capital, central Delhi, to meet Suresh Prabhu, India's Minister of Commerce and Industry. Bilateral trade between India and the UAE has been booming; from just $128 million almost 30 years back, the countries have clocked $56 billion. We'll meeting two more important ministers today as Indian delegation prepare to be in Dubai the coming weekend. More details soon.

Wednesday, Feb 7

7:34pm

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will be leading a delegation of 20 CEOs to the sixth World Government Summit in Dubai next week. Khaleej Times met with Shobana Kamineini, President of Confederation of Industry (CII), to gauge the mood and know more about the areas of interest in Dubai and the UAE on the whole.

6:15pm

3:30pm

The sun's shining bright here in Delhi today. It's a relief, at least for us journalists from the UAE, who were scouting for jackets, mufflers and caps at Akshardham temple yesterday evening.

We had reached at dusk and there was a nip in the air as we set foot in the sprawling 100 acre property of this beautifully designed monument.

Made on the banks of the river Yamuna, the temple's compound is an architectural marvel and a sight to behold. Built by 7,000 artisans, the domes, pillars and the overall structure is adorned with intricate work and carvings in red sandstone, pink sandstone and marble.

The construction took about five years and the compound was inaugurated in November 2005. No beams or iron bars have been used in the main temple compound, which has some intricately designed domes.

"All these domes are not supported by any pillars. We have used lego technology for this kind of architecture," said our tour guide.

Every evening at 7, a spellbinding light, sound and water show entertains the audience. In the last decade, Akshardham has emerged among the favourite tourist hotspots in Delhi.

It's an oasis of peace and tranquility for its visitors. The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (trust) is behind the project and oversees its day to day operations. It is learnt that the same trust that is being entrusted for building the temple in Abu Dhabi.

Tuesday, Feb 6

UAE, India set to sign 12-14 new agreements

Around 45 agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed between the UAE and India in just two and a half years, and around 12 to 14 more are expected to be inked when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the UAE to be the key note speaker at the sixth World Government Summit in Dubai. Read more.

4:20pm

A view of Akshardhaam temple in New Delhi.

Dr. Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Banna, the UAE Ambassador to India shares more about the ties between the two countries.

Space, the next frontier for UAE-India cooperation

The UAE and India have been partners for many years, but the bond has been strengthening in the last few years and the scope of cooperation is widening like never before. Since August 2015, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the UAE, the two countries have had multiple exchange visits, which underline the importance of the fact that each side accords to the growing relationship. Several pacts have been signed and both countries are eagerly looking to work together on various fronts, space being one of them.

It is a relatively new frontier for cooperation, but the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) both have ambitious plans and great interest in paving way for greater partnership and collaboration.

In February last year, for instance, the UAE chose India as a partner to launch its nanosatellite Nayif-1 into space. It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.

While this was one of the first great achievements for the UAE's nascent space mission, plans here are grandiose to say the least. The 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE would be commemorated with Emirates Mars Mission orbiter - a first in the region. The rocket is expected to blast off from the Earth during a brief "launch window" in July 2020 and is set to arrive on Mars in 2021. Only a handful countries in the world can boast of this kind of achievement, and the UAE is gearing to make a mark on this front.

The UAE has also surprised the world with visionary Mars 2117 plan to colonise the red planet.

India, on the other hand, has developed a robust space industry and has accomplished many a feat in recent years. In 2009, India's first lunar foray made a stunning discovery and found water molecules on the moon. And now it is planning another mission by January 2019, which is to launch a rover on the south pole of the moon, a feat that has not being accomplished by any space agency so far. If successful, it will pave way for even more ambitious missions, such as landings on Mars, as well as Venus probe.

As the UAE is eagerly working to realise it's plans for space exploration, close working relations between the two nations can do a world of good to both.

The two have already advanced ties in sectors such as defence, investment, security, terrorism, cyberspace, maritime transport, consular matters, energy and technology cooperation along with regional and other global issues of mutual interest. It won't come as a surprise to see these two young and ambitious nations working together on space missions and emerging as leaders in near future.

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• UAE
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