India's PM Modi welcomed in Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, received Saturday, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, as part of an official visit to the UAE.

Al Nahyan extended a warm welcome to the Indian Prime Minister and his accompanying delegation. The world’s tallest building and a major landmark in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, lit up with the Indian flag, a picture of Modi and a message welcoming him to the Gulf state on Friday. 

Both sides exchanged friendly conversations, embodying the depth of the historical relationships between the two friendly countries and peoples, expressing their delight at the level of joint strategic cooperation between the two countries in many vital areas.

Just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that its economic partnership with India “is a significant milestone in the history of both nations".

The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, said in an interview that the UAE-India non-oil trade is expected to reach USD 100 billion a year by 2030.

Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi noted that UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was designed to deliver a new era of growth and opportunity.

CEPA is an agreement signed between India and UAE on February 18, 2022, and came into force on May 1, 2022. The agreement was signed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Speaking about the success of the CEPA between India and the UAE, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi said, "There is little question that the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement will come to be regarded as a significant milestone in the history of both nations."

Reuters on Friday cited sources as saying that India and the UAE might announce the start of a rupee-dirham payment mechanism to settle bilateral trade. The mechanism, if implemented, would be used to pay for oil as well as other imports from the UAE, its fourth largest oil supplier in the year to March.

Bilateral trade between India and UAE was $84.5 billion in 2022-23. India is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer.