External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar hailed the relationship between India and the UAE as “ambitious” in his speech at the India Global Forum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday. He added that the ties are not really constrained by their bilateral possibilities and will eventually be felt on a global scale.
“It is in many ways a very ambitious relationship because it’s not limited really by its bilateral possibilities. I’m very confident that as we get deeper into the relationship, it will also make itself felt at the global level,” Jaishankar said.
The Minister praised the relationship between the two countries further and emphasised that India and the UAE are two countries that have known each other for a very long time and would like to use this relationship now, in the face of global change.
The EAM also stressed the importance of trade relations between India and the UAE during his speech, noting that the UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner and its second-largest export market.
More Indians reside in the UAE than any other foreign country. UAE therefore, has a special significance in our thoughts, whether we are talking about people or business, according to Jaishankar.
“The old, traditional energy trade investments continue, but a new agenda is also coming into being,” said the EAM at India Global Forum and panel discussion on India-UAE on Monday.
Notably, India’s exports to UAE between April-September 2022 were about USD 16 billion which was an increase of 24 per cent year to year while India’s imports increased 38 per cent to reach USD 28.4 billion in the same time period.
Both sides have also had discussions on other areas of cooperation including energy, healthcare, defence, space, climate change, skills, fin-tech and startups in the past.