As Jaishankar meets UAE Foreign Minister, here's a look at India-UAE transformational ties

Giving a major boost to India-UAE relations, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on November 22 met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the national capital. During the official meeting, the two ministers discussed ways of strengthening the historic relations between the two countries, under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership. 

Apart from this, prospects for boosting trade and economic bilateral relations were also discussed. The discussions came in view of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which was signed between the two countries in 2022. Notably, Sheikh Abdullah Al Nahyan and Jaishankar exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual concern. They also discussed on the latest developments in the regional and global scenes.

This came after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan began his two-day official visit to India for consultations on bilateral ties on both regional and global issues. The meeting was termed as important as the relations between the two countries have seen transformational changes since 2014. 

Transformational changes in India-UAE ties

In the last eight years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited UAE nearly four times. PM Modi last visited UAE on June 28, 2022 during which he met His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In fact, the Foreign Ministers of both countries have met four times in just a span of three months.

In fact, UAE has been invited to attend the G-20 Summit as a special invitee. This was one of the first announcements being made by India, preparatory to its assumption of the G20 Presidency on December 1, this year.

Notably, both countries are discussing trade in INR and Dirhams. India and UAE are also discussing making use of UPI as a payment platform for remittances from the 3.5 million strong Indian community in the UAE.

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

UAE signed its first-ever Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India in February 2022, which came into force in May 2022. During the first five months of signing the agreement, the bilateral trade stood at US Dollar 36.82 billion. The trade is projected to surpass US Dollar 88 billion for the current financial year as compared to US Dollar 73 billion of last financial year. UAE is India’s third largest trading partner after USA and China. 

Notably, the bilateral trade for April-August of the current financial year was 38% higher compared to the corresponding period last year. For this period, exports also increased 27% while imports surged 45 per cent, largely due to higher crude prices.

Image: Twitter/@DrSJaishankar