andalib akhter / New delhi
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan got warm welcome when he arrived in New Delhi today on a three day visit to India. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
The crown prince was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Delhi Airport as a special gesture. He is the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day parade. The visiting dignitary will also be accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow. He will also hold talks with Mr Modi.
The two countries are expected to ink a strategic agreement to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, providing for greater cooperation in areas such as defence and security. Cooperation in areas including energy security, space and civil nuclear energy is also high on agenda.
India and the UAE will sign an agreement sealing a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between the two countries.
144 soldiers from the UAE will be marching down the Rajpath along with their military band on the 68th Republic Day Parade.
The Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed of Abu Dhabi will be the Chief Guest. He is only the second leader from the Gulf region to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade-after the late king Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2006.
India is looking forward to sign a number of pacts including elevation of relationship to strategic partnership.
16 agreements will be signed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi will meet at Delhi’s Hyderabad house. MoUs will be signed in defence and investment.
Meanwhile, UAE has pledged total support to India in combating terrorism, as it looked towards elevating bilateral defence and security ties and inking a Strategic Cooperation Agreement.
This is the second visit of the Crown Prince in a span of less than a year. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces.
Ever since the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE in August 2015, the first by any Indian premier in 34 years , the two countries have been working on strengthening their bilateral relationship.
Since taking office in May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited several countries in the Gulf -and the UAE was the first in August 2015.
Terror, trade & strategic partnership was on the agenda of Prime Minister’s visit. PM Modi later visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar besides Iran.
UAE is home to Indian expatriate community of more than 2.6 million. There is an estimated US$8 billion UAE investment in India of which around US$4.03 billion (Mar. 2016) is in the form of foreign direct investment. UAE is the tenth biggest investor in India in terms of FDI.
Ahead of the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dabi, India & UAE held their first strategic dialogue. The dialogue aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation to new areas such as energy, defence and security.