India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has detailed the significant outcomes from recent talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. These discussions underscored the deep warmth and unique friendship defining the India-UAE relationship.

A key highlight was the signing of a letter of intent aimed at forging a framework agreement for strategic defence cooperation. This move signals a robust commitment to enhancing military ties between the two nations.

In parallel, the space sector saw notable progress with another letter of intent. It involves the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre and the UAE space agency collaborating on space infrastructure development and commercialisation.

This space initiative encompasses ambitious projects such as establishing new launch complexes, satellite fabrication facilities, joint missions, a space academy, and training centres. These efforts will bolster capability-building in a critical high-tech domain.

Investment collaboration emerged as a focal point, particularly with a letter of intent for UAE involvement in Gujarat's Dholera Special Investment Region. Described as a mega partnership, it promises transformative infrastructure development.

The Dholera project includes plans for an international airport, a pilot training school, an MRO facility, a greenfield port, a smart urban township, railway connectivity enhancements, and energy infrastructure initiatives.

Further advancing technological ties, both sides agreed to establish a supercomputing cluster in India. This reflects a strategic push towards excellence in digital and computing capabilities.

Financial and logistics linkages received a boost too. UAE's First Abu Dhabi Bank and global port operator DP World will establish operations in Gujarat's GIFT City, positioning India as a pivotal regional hub for finance and trade.

Agricultural cooperation gained momentum through a memorandum of understanding between India's APEDA and the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. It targets food safety and technical standards to ease market access for Indian exports.

The partnership extends to bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and explorations into "digital/data embassies". These steps highlight engagement in sensitive, forward-looking sectors.

Cultural and youth initiatives also featured prominently. Plans include setting up a 'House of India' in Abu Dhabi to promote Indian art, heritage, and archaeology, alongside youth exchange programmes.

Collectively, these outcomes mark an evolution in the India-UAE relationship, shifting beyond hydrocarbons towards investment, trade expansion, and high-technology collaboration.

The UAE President's visit occurred against a backdrop of regional volatility, including deteriorating Iran-US relations, ongoing Saudi-UAE tensions over Yemen, and instability in Gaza.

This was Sheikh Mohamed's third official visit to India as President and his fifth in the past decade. It builds on the surge in bilateral trade and people-to-people links since the 2022 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Based On ANI Report