Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister for Science, Technology, and Space, will travel to the United Arab Emirates. On December 5, 2022, he is scheduled to attend the first Abu Dhabi Space Debate. Along with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Singh will speak at the opening ceremony of the Abu Dhabi Space debate.
Jitendra Singh will highlight the recent policy changes made by India in the space sector in his speech at the inaugural ceremony. Along with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the UAE, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, and the Minister of Advanced Technologies of Israel, he will also take part in the Ministerial Plenary on the “Role of Foreign Policy in Enabling Space Diplomacy and International Cooperation.”
According to the pre-departure release on the visit of Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, he will hold delegation-level discussions with the UAE’s Minister of State for Advanced Technology, Sarah Al Amiri, and the Chairperson of the UAE Space Agency to discuss how to further strengthen bilateral space cooperation between the two countries.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving cooperation in the exploration and use of space for peaceful purposes was signed in 2016 between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the UAE Space Agency (UAESA). Notably, the PSLV launched the UAE’s first nanosatellite, “Nayif-1,” from Sriharikota. This satellite was created to collect environmental space data.
According to the press release, the “immense potential” of India and the UAE in the space sector will add a new level of depth to bilateral relations between the two countries. The UAE is an emerging space power in the region and has advanced quickly over the past 25 years of its space voyage, according to the pre-departure release on Dr. Jitendra Singh’s visit.
UAE launched its Hope Probe Mars mission in July 2020, and it orbited Mars in February 2021. UAE is the sixth country in the world and the first Arab country to launch a Mars mission. Rashid Rover or the Emirates Lunar Mission are both being prepared for launch by the UAE.
The press release highlighting the UAE’s advancement in the space sector noted that Hanzala Al Mansoori, who travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) for eight days in September 2019 via a Russian spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan, was the first Emirati to do so.
Another astronaut from the UAE was selected this year to embark on a six-month crew rotation journey to the International Space Station (ISS). India and the UAE have “very close and friendly relations,” the press release claims.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the two countries’ relations were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2017.
India and the UAE signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement earlier this year, and they intend to increase bilateral trade from the existing USD 72 billion to USD 100 billion in the next five years.