Dubai: The three-day visit of a high-powered UAE delegation to India has taken the bilateral relationship in several areas to new strategic heights, a spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told Gulf News on Saturday.
“The Joint Statement carries forward our robust partnership with the UAE in a whole host of sectors ranging from trade to space,” Vikas Swarup said.
The delegation, led by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, concluded the visit on Friday.
Shaikh Mohammad’s first state visit to India came at the invitation of Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, who visited the UAE in August 2015, during which the UAE and India agreed to elevate their friendly relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Swarup added that the visit particularly helped further solidify security and defence cooperation. “In particular, the visit has helped to further solidify our security and defence cooperation in the true spirit of our new strategic partnership,” he said.
On Friday evening, Shaikh Mohammad attended a reception hosted by the UAE Consulate in Mumbai. The event was attended by top Indian businessmen, including Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Group. Bollywood celebrities, including Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen, were also part of the high-profile event held at Taj Hotel.
“The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the current levels of bilateral security cooperation between the UAE and India, and acknowledged the progress achieved through regular security dialogue between their National Security Councils,” the joint statement issued on Friday stated.
Both the countries have agreed to strengthen the strategic partnership by continuing to work closely together on a range of security issues, particularly on counter-terrorism, maritime security, and cybersecurity, while reaffirming their respect for the bedrock principles of national sovereignty and non-interference.
“In the area of defence cooperation, the two sides renewed their commitment to strengthening the existing cooperation in training, joint exercises, and participation in defence exhibitions, as well as in identifying opportunities to cooperate on the production of defence equipment in India,” it said.
Commenting on the visit, K.C. Singh, former Indian ambassador to the UAE, observed: “The visit of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed is significant, coming within six months of [Indian] Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s UAE trip … with Modi in a tweet calling him ‘my close friend’.”
“Nine agreements spelt out cooperation in the joint statement during Modi’s UAE visit. The phrase used was ‘transformative’ economic partnership, marrying Indian economic liberalisation and entrepreneurship with Emirati funding, free market philosophy and oil and gas reserves,” he wrote in Asian Age.
“With a view to ensuring that cyberspace remains a safe and secure space, which would not be used as a medium to promote subversive and extremist ideologies, the two sides agreed to cooperate on sharing technical best practices in the field of information and communications technologies,” the statement said.
