An investment treaty was signed between India and the UAE following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday.
India has signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE, which would play an important role in stimulating investment in both nations.
India’s foreign secretary, Vinay Kwatra, explained that the bilateral investment treaty aims to increase capital flows between the two economies.
“The agreement will set the basis for a stronger and more extensive wide-ranging investments partnership, cause it focuses not just on protecting the existing investment it also advances the objective of promoting further capital flows between the two economies,” Kwatra told reporters.
PM Modi landed in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for an official two-day visit to the UAE. In a remarkable and heartfelt gesture, he was greeted at the airport by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and then given a ceremonial welcome.
The two leaders conducted individual and delegation-level discussions. They assessed the bilateral partnership and discussed new areas of cooperation.
They appreciated the expansion of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across sectors including as trade and investment, digital infrastructure, fintech, energy, infrastructure, culture, and people-to-people ties. The discussions also included regional and global topics.
According to a MEA press release, India and the UAE are among each other’s top trading partners, with a bilateral trade worth approximately USD 85 billion in 2022–23. The UAE is also one of India’s top four investors in terms of foreign direct investment in 2022-23.
Aside from the bilateral investment pact, an Inter-governmental Framework Agreement on Cooperation for the Empowerment and Operation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was signed to enhance regional connectivity.
MoUs on cooperation in the field of electricity interconnection and trade, cooperation in digital infrastructure projects, cooperation protocol between the National Library and Archives of the UAE and the National Archives of India, development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex, interlinking of instant payment platforms – UPI (India) and AANI (UAE), and interlinking domestic debit/credit cards – RuPay (India) with JAYWAN (UAE), among other things.
PM Modi thanked President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the launch of the UAE’s domestic card, JAYWAN, which is built on the digital RuPay credit and debit card stack. The leaders observed a transaction performed with the JAYWAN card.
Both presidents also discussed how to strengthen energy partnerships. They appreciated that, in addition to the UAE being one of the largest providers of crude and LPG, India is now going into long-term LNG contracts.