Prime Minister Narendra Modi with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a ceremonial reception, in Abu Dhabi. (@NarendraModiYT via PTI Photo)
Stressing that the Strait of Hormuz should be “free, open and safe”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan that India stands “shoulder to shoulder” with the UAE and criticised the attacks on the Emirates by calling the targeting as “unacceptable”.
He made these remarks as he stopped over for a brief visit in UAE, before heading to the four-country Europe trip from Friday.
During the visit, which was less than three hours, India and the UAE agreed on a “Framework for the Strategic Defence Partnership”, pacts on Strategic Petroleum Reserves and LPG, and another pact on setting up Ship Repair Cluster at Vadinar. Investment worth USD 5 billion was announced in Indian Infrastructure and RBL Bank and Samman Capital.
Modi, who left Delhi on Friday morning and reached by afternoon, met UAE’s ruler MBZ where he also expressed India’s support for efforts to restore peace and stability in the region, which has been disrupted by war between US-Israel and Iran for more than two months now.
He complimented MBZ for displaying “courage and wisdom” in these difficult times, and thanked him for taking care of the Indian community in UAE like “family members”.
He said that India is in favour of “dialogue and diplomacy”, as the impact of conflict is being felt worldwide.
He said that they discussed and reviewed the progress on the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Modi’s visit to the UAE comes a day after he met Iranian Foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi. He has spoken to the UAE ruler MBZ at least twice in the last two months.
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Apart from the defence pact, energy security was the main theme of the visit.
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Underlining that the UAE has been an important partner in India’s energy security, officials said that “last year, the UAE was the 4th largest source of crude oil meeting nearly 11 percent of our requirement.”
UAE is the largest source of LPG for India, meeting nearly 40 per cent of India’s requirement, sources said.
Also, the UAE has been the first country to partner with India in the “Strategic Petroleum Reserves”. In 2018, ISPRL and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) entered into an agreement for the UAE to store over 5 million barrels of crude oil reserves in ISPRL’s facility in Mangalore. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) is a specialized Indian public sector company under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, responsible for maintaining the country’s strategic crude oil reserves, holding 5.33 MMT (million metric tons) of crude across three underground facilities to ensure energy security against supply disruptions.
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Sources said that through the current turmoil, the UAE has remained one of India’s most reliable energy partners and continues to be so.
At a time when India is navigating security and economic challenges amidst the instability in West Asia, the UAE, which has a comprehensive strategic partnership with India and is home to a large Indian diaspora, was included in the Prime Minister’s itinerary at the last minute.
The UAE has been one of the main targets of Iranian missile attacks ever since the start of the West Asia war on February 28. Tehran accuses the emirates of providing safe space to American military bases, facilities and personnel.
And amid the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which has impacted energy supplies to much of the world, including India, the UAE announced it was exiting the OPEC, the bloc of oil-producing exporters headed by Saudi Arabia. This puts the UAE well poised to supply energy to India.
