Solidifying their partnership, India and the UAE on Monday signed a letter of intent to work on concluding a framework agreement on strategic defence partnership.
The document was signed after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during which they discussed various key issues, including bilateral matters and regional developments.
The two leaders also pledged to double the volume of bilateral trade from USD 100 billion to USD 200 billion by 2032.
The UAE leader was in India on a two-hour visit at the head of a high-powered delegation. Breaking the protocol, the PM received Sheikh Zayed at the airport before escorting him for talks between the two leaders.
Although the two sides signed several documents, the most important is related to their intention to conclude a pact on defence partnership. The document is likely to send alarming signals to Pakistan, which considers itself a close defence ally of the UAE. Also, the pact comes at a time when the UAE is involved in a confrontation with Saudi Arabia over Yemen.
Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri denied that the letter of intent on defence has anything to do with regional developments. ‘’India and the UAE already have a strong defence partnership, and this document is not in response to any event that may have taken place in the region,’’ he added.
Misri said that under the proposed accord on defence, the two nations will strengthen defence industrial cooperation, defence innovation partnership, training and education of special forces, meeting defence threats in cyberspace and counter-terrorism. ‘’The proposed pact is a natural evolution of the already strong defence partnership,’’ he added.
The foreign secretary said the PM and the visiting UAE President exchanged views on the situation in West Asia and extended their full support to all efforts for peace, security, stability and prosperity of the region.
A letter of intent was also signed between the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre in space and the UAE Space Agency for a joint initiative for space infrastructure development and its commercialisation.
‘’Under this particular initiative, we will look to set up new launch complexes, satellite fabrication facilities, joint missions, space academies, and training centres,’’ Misri said.
A letter of intent was inked on the UAE’s participation in the development of a Special Investment Region in Dholera in Gujarat. This is a mega partnership initiative that will look at the establishment of an international airport, a pilot training school, an MRO facility, a greenfield port, and a smart urban township, as well as projects related to railway connectivity and energy infrastructure.
The two sides decided to explore a partnership in advanced nuclear technologies, including the development and deployment of large nuclear reactors and small modular reactors, as well as cooperation in advanced reactor systems, nuclear power plant operations, and maintenance and nuclear safety.
Artificial Intelligence was identified as a priority area of cooperation. It was decided to collaborate on setting up a supercomputing cluster in India with a UAE partnership. The UAE will also look at investments for expanding data centre capacity in India.