India and UAE are currently in the golden era of relations

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Suri shares his thoughts on India-UAE relations

I would say that relations between India and the UAE are going through a golden era.  They are at their best ever.  The bilateral relationship has matured and transformed into a comprehensive strategic partnership as both countries continue to explore deeper cooperation in new areas. The deepening of energy ties was a highlight of last year, as the relationship transformed from a buyer-seller relationship to that of a strategic partnership in energy security, with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) delivering the crude oil for storage in Mangalore Strategic reserve and a consortium of Indian oil companies acquiring 10 per cent stake in Lower Zakum Offshore oil field in Abu Dhabi. ADNOC and Saudi Aramco signed a framework agreement with Indian oil companies to set up a $44 billion refinery in Maharashtra during the visit of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to India in June 2018.

Defence has also emerged as a strong area of cooperation between both the countries. Our first bilateral naval exercise was held in March 2018 and another Indian Coast Guard Ship, VIKRAM visited the UAE in December 2018 and carried out joint exercises with the UAE CoastGuard. Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi, UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs visited India in October 2018 and met our Defence Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman. During the visit of Bowardi, both countries discussed the possibility of joint defence production and identified new areas of cooperation.

Our bilateral cooperation also grew stronger in traditional areas of trade, culture and people to people relations. India maintained its position as the second largest trading partner of UAE with $50 billion bilateral trade in 2017-18. To boost trade further, India and the UAE signed a currency swap agreement in December 2018. India was designated as the Guest of Honour country at Abu Dhabi Music & Art Festival 2018, during which the best of Indian culture was showcased to a global audience. The 4th International Day of Yoga celebrations saw enthusiastic participation from thousands of people of all nationalities living in UAE.

India and the UAE also signed a MoU for cooperation in the field of Manpower during the visit of PM Modi and are exploring the possibility of linking their respective e-platforms for benefit and welfare of Indian workers coming to the UAE. Both countries are now working to explore cooperation in regional and global fora, India and the UAE also signed a MoU for development cooperation in Africa in December 2018 during the visit of Mrs Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India to the UAE in December 2018.

I am happy to say that the Government of the UAE has also recognised our Embassy's efforts to strengthen the dynamic bilateral relationship. We were delighted to receive a special award from His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, for outstanding contribution to strengthening relations with the UAE.