Abu Dhabi Crown Prince will visit Mumbai on September 9 to take part in business forum

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, inaugurated the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi in the United Arab Emirates` capital on September 2. Pic/X

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will be on a two-day visit to India on Sunday to hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amid escalating tensions in West Asia, reported PTI.

"The visit of Al Nahyan will further reinforce strong ties between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and open avenues for partnership in new and emerging areas," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing the Crown Price's maiden trip to India. "India and UAE share historically close and friendly ties. In recent years, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE has deepened in a wide range of areas including political, trade, investment, connectivity, energy, technology, education, and culture," it said.

Prime Minister Modi and the Crown Prince will hold talks on Sunday, covering a wide range of areas of bilateral cooperation, it further informed.

Besides bilateral issues, the two leaders are also expected to deliberate on the overall situation arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Apart from Prime Minister Modi, the Crown Prince is also scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and later will visit the Rajghat to pay his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.

He will be accompanied by several ministers from the UAE government as well as a business delegation.

On Monday, Al Nahyan will visit Mumbai to participate in a business forum, in which top business leaders from both the countries will be participating.

According to MEA, the Crown Prince's visit comes following an invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following Modi's landmark visit to UAE in August 2015, the bilateral relations between the two countries were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Both countries signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in February 2022 and a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) System last year in July to promote the use of Indian Rupee and AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) for cross-border transactions.

The two countries are among each other's top trading partners with a bilateral trade of about USD 85 billion in 2022-23, according to official data.

The UAE is also among the top four investors in India in terms of foreign direct investments in 2022-23.

The 3.5 million Indian community forms the largest expatriate group in the UAE.

Last year, the UAE was invited as a special invitee for the G20 Summit during India's Presidency of the grouping.

In Feb 2023, the India-UAE-France (UFI) trilateral was formally launched.

With India's active support, the UAE joined SCO as dialogue partner in May 2023. The UAE also joined BRICS as a member on January 1 with India's support. The India-UAE defence cooperation has also witnessed a renewed momentum in the last few years.

In January 2024, the first India-UAE bilateral army exercise 'Desert Cyclone' was held in Rajasthan.

(With PTI inputs)