India and the UAE held their first strategic dialogue during which they finalised the Strategic Cooperation Agreement aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation to new key areas including energy, defence and security that will be signed during the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan next week.
During the dialogue, co-chaired by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs M J Akbar and his UAE counterpart Anwar Gargash, the two sides agreed on a number of new initiatives to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and on signing
of fresh instruments of cooperation.
Noting that the first dialogue took place pursuant to the decision to elevate the relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the exchange of the visits at the highest level between the two sides in August 2015 and February
2016, MEA in a release said the two sides were represented by strong delegations drawn from a number of relevant ministries and departments.
This is the second visit of the Crown Prince to India who travelled to India in February 2016. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
During the visit, the two sides will also explore ways to strengthen trade ties. The two countries have been among each other’s top trading partners with a well-balanced bilateral trade of about 50 billion dollars in 2015-16.