India-UAE Relations

India and the UAE enjoy strong bonds of friendship which are founded on
millennia-old cultural, religious and economic intercourse between the two regions.
People-to-people contacts and barter trade between the two regions existed for
centuries. The relationship flourished after the accession of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin
Sultan Al Nahyan as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 and subsequently with the
creation of the UAE Federation in 1971. Both sides have made sincere efforts to
improve them in all fields.

Today, the India-UAE bilateral ties are multi-faceted encompassing most

areas of cooperation. Both countries have the potential to build a strategic
relationship for future, based on cooperation in the fields like: science and
technology; knowledge industry; tourism; defence and security as well as partners in
the global fight against terrorism and extremism. UAE is home to more than 1.75
million Indian expatriate community. India and the UAE are the largest trading
partners of each other in terms of non-oil merchandise trade with bilateral trade being
valued at $ 43.4 billion in FY 2009-2010. There are more than 450 flights between
various destinations of India and the UAE.

Bilateral Visits: India-UAE bilateral relations got impetus with the regular exchanges
of high-level visits from both sides. UAE’s President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al
Nahyan visited India in January 1975 and 1992. In recent times, Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, visited
India in March 2007. He again visited India in Mach 2010. Foreign Minister Sheikh
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan led the UAE delegation to take part in the India-UAE
Joint Commission meeting at New Delhi in June 2007. He again visited India in June
2009 to seek India’s support for locating the headquarters of International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi. From Indian side, President Dr. Fakhruddin
Ali Ahmed visited UAE in November 1976 and Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi
visited in May 1981. In recent times, President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam paid a State
visit to the UAE in October 2003. EAM Shri Pranab Mukherjee visited UAE in May
2008.

Visit of Hon’ble President to the UAE: Hon’ble President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh
Patil paid five-day State visit to the UAE between November 21-26, 2010. She was
accompanied by Shri Bharatsinh Solanki, Hon’ble Minister of State for Power,
Members of Parliament, business and media delegations. On November 22, Hon’ble
President held meeting with HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the
UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi and discussed bilateral relations and ways to
strengthen them, particularly in the fields of trade and investments, agriculture, food
processing, science & technology etc. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy
PM and Minister of Presidential Affairs of the UAE, called on Hon’ble President on
November 23. Hon’ble President addressed Indian community at India Social &
Cultural Centre (ISC), Abu Dhabi as well as at the inauguration of the new premises
of Indian Islamic Centre, Abu Dhabi. She addressed business community in a
meeting organized by Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

In Dubai, Hon’ble President inaugurated Indian Workers Resource Centre

(IWRC) at a reception hosted by Ambassador at India Club, Dubai on November 23.
Hon’ble President met HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice
President and PM of the UAE & Ruler of Dubai, on November 24. Both leaders
explored ways to strengthen bilateral relations. She inaugurated Indian Trade &
Exhibition Centre (ITEC) in Sharjah in the presence of HH Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin
Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of
Sharjah. She also addressed a meeting of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
in the presence of Mariam Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi, UAE’s Minister of Social
Affairs.

Bilateral Agreements: India and the UAE have signed various Agreements and
MoUs from time-to-time, such as Civil Aviation Agreement (1989); Agreement to
Combat Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1994);
Extradition Treaty (1999); Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal & Civil Matters
(1999); Agreement on Juridical and Judicial Cooperation in civil and commercial
matters (1999); Defence Cooperation Agreement (2003); MoU on Manpower
Sourcing in (2006).

Joint Commission: The Ninth Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting
(JCM) took place at New Delhi on June 5-6, 2007. The Indian delegation was led by
External Affairs Minister (EAM) Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the UAE delegation was
led by Foreign Minister HH Sheikh Abdullah. Both sides discussed issues towards
promoting bilateral cooperation in the following fields: Trade & Investment;
Combating Crime, Terrorism and Illicit Activities; Education, Culture, Youth & Sports;
Health, Science and Technology, Agriculture & Environment; Manpower; Energy,
Hydro-carbons, Petrochemicals and Fertilizers.

Foreign Office Consultations (FOC): The India-UAE bilateral FOC took place at
Abu Dhabi on September 19, 2010 where the Indian side was led by Ms. Vijaya
Latha Reddy, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs and the UAE side was led
by Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Both sides
exchanged views on a series of bilateral issues as well as regional and international
issues of mutual concern.

Economic & Commercial Relations: The traditionally close and friendly India-UAE
bilateral relationship has evolved into a significant partnership in the economic and
commercial sphere with both countries achieving the status of the largest partners of
each other in terms of two-way non-oil merchandise trade. Indians have emerged as
important investors within the UAE and India as an important export destination for
the UAE manufactured goods. Indo-UAE trade, valued at US $ 180 million per annum
in the 1970s, is today valued at US$ 43.4 billion (2009-2010). India's exports to the
UAE are well diversified with a large basket. India's major export items to the UAE
are: Petroleum Products, Precious Metals, Stones, Gems & Jewellery, Minerals,
Food Items (Cereals, Sugar, Fruits & Vegetables, Tea, Meat, and Seafood), Textiles
(Garments, Apparel, Synthetic fibre, Cotton, Yarn) and Engineering & Machinery
Products and Chemicals. India’s major import items from the UAE are: Petroleum
and Petroleum Products, Precious Metals, Stones, Gems & Jewellery, Minerals,
Chemicals, Wood & Wood Products.

India-UAE Trade (million US$)

2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
India’s Import from 13,611.24 13,558.43 24,477.48 23,970.22
UAE
India’s Export to UAE 9,793.74 15,465.25 23,791.25 19,500.73
Total Trade 23,404.98 29,023.68 48,268.72 43,470.95
Trade Balance 3,817.51 1,906.82 686.23 4469.49
(Note: The country total imports since 2000-01 does not include import of Petroleum
Products and Crude Oil)
(Source: Foreign Trade Statistics issued by DGCIS, Kolkata)

UAE is the six largest import source of crude oil to India in 2009-10 with an import of
11.60 MMT crude oil.

Investments: There is an estimated US$ 6 billion UAE investment in India of which

about US$ 1.5 billion is in the form of foreign direct investment, while the remaining
as portfolio investment. UAE is the tenth biggest investor in India in terms of FDI.
UAE’s investment in India were concentrated mainly in five sectors: Energy(19.1%);
Services(9.3%); Programming(7.8%); Construction (6.8%); and Tourism and
Hotels(5.6%). Prominent UAE companies such as DP World, Emmar, RAK etc have
invested significantly in various sectors in Indian economy. Several prominent Indian
companies and banks have also opened their offices in the UAE.

Defense Cooperation: Both countries have regular exchange of dialogue in the field
of defence with the setting up of Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) in
June 2003. The third Meeting of JDCC took place at New Delhi in August 2009. Main
areas of bilateral defence cooperation are: production and development of defence
equipment; Joint exercises of armed forces, particularly naval exercises; sharing of
information on strategy and doctrines; technical cooperation in respect of the
Intermediate Jet Trainer etc. India has been a regular participant at the biennial
International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi. During the IDEX-2009, a
hydrographic survey vessel of the Indian Navy, INS Sarvekshak remained docked in
Abu Dhabi near the exhibition venue. Ordinance Factory Board, Kolkata had also set
up its exhibition stall in the exhibition.

The first ever India-UAE Joint Air Forces exercise took place in September
2008 at the Al-Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi in which 8 Su-30 MKI aircrafts took part
along with one IL-76 plane. There have been goodwill visit of ships of Indian Navy to
the UAE from time-to-time. The UAE hosted the meeting of the ‘Indian Ocean Naval
Symposium’ (IONS) at Abu Dhabi in May 2010, where India handed over the
Chairmanship of the IONS to the UAE. The Indian delegation in the meeting was led
by Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Varma.

Cultural Cooperation: Both countries share historic cultural ties and are making
sincere efforts to cultivate regular cultural exchanges both at official and popular
levels. India and UAE have signed a Cultural Agreement in 1975. A bilateral Cultural
Exchange Programme was signed for the period 1994-1996. UAE’s Ministry of
Culture and organisations like Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)
have been close partners in organizing Indian cultural events such as the Indian Film
Festival in November 2008, SAARC Film Festival in March 2009, Indian Paintings
Exhibition: ‘Spectrum’ in November 2009. Affiliated institutions of ADACH such as
Ketab, Kalima have also been assisting in translations of some prominent Indian
books in English into Arabic. An Indian Cultural Centre has been opend by ICCR in
the premises of the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi since December 2009.

Indian Community: At present, the Indian community is the largest expatriate

community in the UAE. 15-20 per cent of the community is made up of professionally
qualified personnel, 20 per cent belong to the white collar non-professionals (clerical
staff, shop assistants, sales men, accountants, etc) and rest (about 65%) belongs to
the blue-collar workers. The Indian community has played a major role in the
economic development of the UAE. It is respected for its technical competence,
sense of discipline and its minimal involvement in criminal activities compared to
other expatriate communities. However, the main point in its favour is its non-
involvement in local and regional political issues. The economic boom in the UAE has
created a huge demand, since then for short-term immigrant labour, white collar non-
professionals and professionals are coming in increasing numbers.

Over the last few years, steady improvement has been witnessed in respect of
the grievance-redressal mechanisms for the workers in the UAE. India and UAE
signed an MoU in the field of Manpower Sourcing in December 2006 and are in the
process of renewing the MoU. UAE’s Ministry of Labour and our Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs are working closely to evolve a new arrangement that would make the
system of recruitment and contracting more transparent. Mission is in the process of
launching projects such as pre-Recruitment attestation, Indian Workers Resource
Centre (IWRC) etc for the welfare of Indian workers. There is Indian Community
Welfare Fund (ICWF) for providing food, shelter, passage expenses etc to destitute
workers/housemaids in distress.

***
March 2011