Political Relations

India-UAE Political Relations
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established diplomatic relations in 1972. While the UAE opened its Embassy in India in 1972, Indian Embassy in UAE was opened in 1973.

Political Relations
2.         The traditionally strong bilateral relations enjoyed by India-UAE have received impetus with exchange of high-level bilateral visits from time to time. The visit of Prime Minister of India to UAE on 16-17 August 2015 marked the beginning of a new Comprehensive and Strategic partnership between the two countries. HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and now the President of the UAE, visited India in Feb 2016 and Jan 2017.
3.         PM Shri Narendra Modi visited UAE for the second time in February 2018 for the 6th World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai, where India was the Guest of Honour. He delivered the key note address at WGS and met HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR), Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE & Ruler of Dubai. The third visit by PM to the UAE was in August 2019 during which he received the UAE’s highest award, ‘Order of Zayed’ conferred upon him by the UAE President in April 2019. The visit also witnessed official launch of ‘RuPay Card’ in UAE and release of a set of stamps commemorating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
4.         In February 2022, a virtual summit took place between UAE President HH MBZ and PM Shri Narendra Modi during which the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and several other MoUs/Agreements were signed. During the virtual summit, both leaders also issued a Joint Vision document that will guide India-UAE strategic partnership in times to come. Both leaders also launched an India-UAE Joint Commemorative Stamp to mark 75 years of India’s Independence (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav), 50 years of the formation of the UAE and 50 years of the India-UAE diplomatic relations.
5.         The latest visit by PM to the UAE took place in June 2022 when PM stopped over by Abu Dhabi while returning from Munich, Germany after attending the G-7 summit. During this visit, PM was received by UAE President HH MBZ at the airport where PM conveyed his condolences on the demise of former President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and he also congratulated HH MBZ on succeeding Sheikh Khalifa as the third President of the UAE.
6.         The momentum generated by PM’s visits was sustained by back to back reciprocal visits at the level of Foreign Ministers. During the period 2014- 2019, External Affairs Minister of India visited the UAE thrice. Her last visit to the UAE was in March 2019 when she represented India at the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Organisation of Islamic Organisation (OIC), where India was invited as “Guest of Honour” country by the UAE.
7.         Current External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar visited the UAE six times since May 2019. In November 2019, EAM visited UAE for the first time to attend the 10th Sir Bani Yas Forum. During the visit, he met with UAE Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (ABZ) as well as HH MBZ on the margins of the Forum. In November 2020, he came to the UAE on his first official visit when he met with the UAE Foreign Minister HH ABZ and had courtesy meetings with HH MBZ in Abu Dhabi and HH MBR in Dubai. In 2021, EAM first visited the UAE in April on a day long trip when he met HH ABZ where they reviewed the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation between India and the UAE in this regard. In November 2021, he visited the UAE to attend Sir Bani Yas Forum in Dubai. During the visit, he also had meetings with HH ABZ and HH MBZ. In December 2021, he visited Abu Dhabi to attend the 5th Indian Ocean Conference and on the sidelines, he met with HH MBZ and HH ABZ.
8.         In September 2022, EAM visited the UAE on a 3-day long trip during which he co-chaired the 14th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) and the third Strategic Dialogue with HH ABZ. During the visit, he also met UAE President HH MBZ, interacted with the press and had a discussion on foreign policy with the Director General of Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.
9.         In the last five years, the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah also visited India four times in June 2018, July 2019, February 2021 and in November 2022. In addition, Dr. Anwar Gargash visited India on 30 August 2021 and met EAM. During the meeting, they discussed latest regional and international developments and strategic issues of mutual concern. In October 2022, MoS (International Cooperation) Ms. Reem Al Hashimy led a delegation to participate in the Special meeting of the UNSC Counter Terror Committee in Mumbai and Delhi. During the meeting, she also met EAM.
10.       Minister of Commerce and Industry (CIM) and Minister for Railways, Shri Piyush Goyal visited UAE in October, 2021 for the 9th meeting of the UAE-India High Level Joint Task Force on Investments (HLTFI). In October 2022, HH Sheikh Hamid bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) visited Mumbai to attend the 10th meeting of HLTFI, co-chaired with CIM.
11.       In November 2022, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri visited UAE to attend the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2022. During the visit, he had bilateral meetings with UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazroui, ADNOC CEO & UAE Climate Envoy Sultan Al Jaber and interacted with media channels besides inaugurating the India Pavilion at ADIPEC.
12.       In December 2021, Health Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya visited the UAE and met with the UAE Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of State in MOFAIC Sheikh Shakbout Nahyan Al Nahyan and the CEO of Mubadala Health H J Al Nowais.

13.       Parliamentary Cooperation:        An Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Hon’ble Member of Parliament Shri Bhartruhari Mehtab for the Asian Parliamentary Assembly Standing Committee Meeting in Abu Dhabi in May 2017 met Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of Federal National Council (FNC). During the meeting, Indian delegation invited the Speaker of FNC to visit India. A Parliamentary delegation by Speaker of Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla met with Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC) on 9 September 2021 in Vienna on the sidelines of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. On invitation of Saqr Ghobash, Hon’ble Speaker visited UAE on 21-25 Feb 2022 with a delegation comprising six MPs - four from Lok Sabha and two from Rajya Sabha. During the visit, he met Saqr Ghobash, addressed an extraordinary session of FNC and had a courtesy meeting with HH MBZ.

14.       Institutional Mechanism: India and UAE have following institutional mechanisms in place for addressing sector-specific issues.

• Joint Commission Meeting (JCM): JCM deals with issues related to trade and commerce. EAM Dr. S Jaishankaer led Indian delegation to virtually participate in the 13th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Technical and Economic Cooperation. The 14th JCM between the two sides was held in Abu Dhabi on 01 Sep 2022 and the sub-committees of the JCM were held virtually on 24-25 Aug 2022.
• Joint Defence Coordination Committee: With signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation in 2003, a Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) was established. JDCC provides a platform for a regular exchange of dialogue in defence sector. The latest (10th) round of JDCC was held in Abu Dhabi on 16-17 December 2019. The last and 11th JDCC was held in India in May 2022.
• India-UAE High-level Task Force on Investment (HLTFI): A High Level Task Force on Investment was established in May 2012. The 10th HLFTI took place in October 2022 in Mumbai and it was co-chaired by Minister of Textiles, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Piyush Goyal and MD of ADIA, HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
• Joint Committee for Consular Affairs (JCCA): The MoU for establishing a Joint Committee on Consular Affairs was signed on April 16, 2012. The fourth round of JCCA was held in Abu Dhabi in October 2022. The meeting was co-chaired by Director on Consular Affairs, MoFAIC from UAE and Joint Secretary (CPV), MEA from India.
• Joint Security Committee (JSC): In 10 May 2012, both sides agreed to form a Joint Security Committee (JSC) to follow up on the implementation of agreements signed between the two countries on related issues. The 3rd JSC was held virtually on 18 February 2021 and co-chaired by Staff Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili from UAE and AS (MHA) Govind Mohan.
• Joint Committee on Manpower: The first Joint Commission on Manpower was held in Oct 2022 in Dubai. Undersecretary for Human Resources Affairs at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) led the UAE delegation and Joint Secretary (OIA) led the delegation from India. Both sides discussed issues related to manpower, underscored the need of explore areas of collaboration in this area.
• Joint Working Group on Skill Development: The 1st JWG was held in New Delhi on 29 April 2016 and co-chaired by Secretary, MSDE and DG of National Qualifications Authority, UAE. In September 2018, a delegation from the UAE Ministry of Human Resource & Emiratisation visited India to collaborate for various skill development initiatives.
• India-UAE Strategic Dialogue: In pursuant to the Joint Statement issued during the visit of then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India in February 2016, this dialogue at the level of MoS was institutionalized. So far, first and second Strategic Dialogue have taken place in Jan and Oct 2017. On 02 Sep 2022, the 3rd Strategic Dialogue was held between two sides in Abu Dhabi, headed by EAM and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed. Other attendees were FS, Ambassador and others from Indian side while MoS Reem Al Hashimy, MoS Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh and UAE President’s Diplomatic Advisor from the UAE side.
• Joint Working Group on Human Trafficking: The first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Human Trafficking was held in Abu Dhabi on 4-5 August 2019. 2nd India-UAE Joint Task Force meeting on combating human trafficking for implementation of the MoU on cooperation in preventing and combating Trafficking in Persons was held virtually on 09 December 2020.

Last updated in November 2022
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