EAM S Jaishankar met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed here and expressed confidence that the bilateral strategic ties between India and the UAE will scale new heights in the years to come.

Jaishankar is here to attend the 5th Indian Ocean Conference on December 4-5. The theme of the Indian Ocean Conference 2021 is "Indian Ocean: Ecology, Economy, Epidemic".

"Thank HH@MohamedBinZayed for receiving me today. Conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister @narendramodi on the Golden Jubilee of UAE," Jaishankar tweeted after his meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

"Confident that our close partnership will scale new heights in the years to come," he wrote.

Sheikh Mohamed and Jaishankar discussed cooperation and joint action that solidify the strategic partnership between the UAE and India and achieve their common interests and aspirations of their two friendly peoples. He and the visiting minister also exchanged views on various regional and international issues and developments of common interest, UAE's official WAM news agency reported.

Sheikh Mohamed welcomed the visit of Jaishankar, who conveyed the congratulations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of the UAE's celebrations of its golden jubilee, his wishes for the country and its people further progress and prosperity, and for the relations between the two countries to advance and develop further.

Sheikh Mohamed conveyed his greetings to the Indian Prime Minister and his wishes for further development and growth for the friendly Indian people. He expressed his thanks and appreciation to Prime Minister Modi for his good wishes for the UAE's national day, the report said.

Earlier, Jaishankar met his counterparts from the UAE and Oman and discussed bilateral cooperation with them before the start of an international conference on the Indian Ocean that began here on Saturday.

Jaishankar also met Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who gave the inaugural address at the conference.

"Good to meet President @GotabayaR at the 5th Indian Ocean Conference. His address was a prominent feature of the inaugural session," he said.

Over two days, senior leaders from Indian Ocean littoral countries will cover the issues related to the region in the pre-conference workshops and plenary sessions, the India Foundation said.

"A pleasant moment before the start of the Indian Ocean Conference with my counterparts from UAE (Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed) and Oman (Sayyid Badr Albusaidi)," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

"A warm meeting with UAE FM@ AB Zayed in Abu Dhabi. Noted the steady progress in our bilateral cooperation. As always, his insights on global and regional developments were of great value," he said in another tweet.

There will be around 200 delegates and over 50 speakers from 30 countries. The inaugural address will be delivered by President of Sri Lanka Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the think-tank said.

The conference is being organised in collaboration with the RSIS Singapore, Institute of National Security Studies, Sri Lanka, and the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, UAE, it added.