Why UAE is an ally India can trust
If there was a paradigm shift in India-UAE ties after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Emirates in August last year, the two sides are undoubtedly hopeful that the visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the armed forces of the UAE this week will propel economic and geostrategic ties to a more elevated level.
The fact that the crown prince’s four-day visit (February 10-12) is happening barely six months after Prime Minister Modi visited the UAE indicates the upward trajectory of bilateral ties. Though India and the UAE have had historical and close ties, no Indian prime minister had visited the Emirates in over three decades, the last one being by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1981.
What has assumed importance now is the “strategic nature” of bilateral relations between these two traditional friends as they work to forge an overarching and deepening engagement that’s being described as a “strategic government-to-government partnership”.
It’s also a partnership that New Delhi is pushing to move beyond just trade and people-to-people ties though this in no way undermines the role of the 2.5 million-strong Indian diaspora in the Emirates that sends valuable remittances home.
At present, India is UAE’s number one trading partner with total trade pegged at $60 billion in 2015 — a huge growth since the 1970s when India-UAE annual trade was at $180 million.
With respect to oil trade, UAE was the sixth largest source of crude oil import for India in 2014-'15. Going beyond this, India and the UAE are now forging a strategic partnership in the energy sector, having agreed, among other things, on the Emirates' participation in the development of India’s strategic petroleum reserves.
Cooperation in security and counterterrorism matters are a significant element of this “strategic” alliance that saw the two sides alluding to Pakistan in their joint statement after the prime minister’s visit when calling upon “all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructures and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice”.
In a reference to the Kashmir dispute, the joint statement called on nations to “fully respect and sincerely implement their commitments to resolve disputes bilaterally and peacefully, without resorting to violence and terrorism”.
This was certainly not music for Pakistan’s ear with its traditionally close ties with the UAE, which had taken a beating especially after Pakistan's refusal to back Saudi-led airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Pakistan's decision evoked some trenchant criticism from the UAE’s foreign minister and an equally sharp retort from Islamabad.
A part of the security construct between India and the UAE is the decision to strengthen defence ties and increase cooperation in the field of maritime security.
It’s expected that the joint statement during the crown prince Al Nahyan’s visit will again find mention of cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts. Collaboration in this area has already been stepped up in recent months with the UAE, in September last year, deporting Afsha Jabeen, a woman suspected of having links to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. Another three Indians were deported, again for alleged ISIS links by the UAE authorities last month.
Prime Minister Modi has invested a lot in this relationship and will be hoping that a deeper and more comprehensive engagement with the UAE will help his government reap the benefits in areas as diverse as the "Make in India" initiative, the "smart cities" project, infrastructure-building, oil, renewable energy as well as security and counterterrorism.
The first steps towards strategic collaboration were taken during Modi’s visit when India and the UAE, in their joint statement, agreed to “elevate the India-UAE relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership”.
UAE's ambassador to India, Ahmed AR Albanna, while describing the visit of the crown prince as reflecting “a new era in old, existing ties”, draws attention to the “strategic relationship that both countries are looking to build and enhance further”.
Reflective of the comprehensive nature of burgeoning bilateral ties are the 16 agreements and MoUs covering a wide range of sectors from nuclear energy, petroleum and infrastructure to counterterrorism on the agenda.
Lending heft to the visit by the UAE royal is the fact that he is accompanied by no less than eight ministers along with an economic delegation which has over 100 members. The Indian government will be making a strong "Invest in India" pitch to the UAE economic delegation at a symposium in Mumbai.
A lot is at stake for Modi as his government pushes for closer economic ties and seeks to draw more investments from the UAE. During his visit last year, the two sides had agreed to establish an UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund, setting an ambitious target of $75 billion to support investment in India's infrastructure. Both sides have set up a task force to nudge investments under this fund.
The UAE is the tenth biggest investor in India. According to January 2015 figures, the total foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UAE to India was estimated to be $3.01 billion.
For now, both countries seem eager to seize the opportunity to expand bilateral ties as they see growing synergies in a rapidly transforming world. If they succeed, it could be a win-win situation for both.