ABU DHABI,NFAPost: At the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan paid an official visit to Gujarat, India from 9th-10th January 2024 as the Chief Guest of the 10th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi welcomed Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India. The two leaders held constructive talks, reaffirming the strength of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and close ties between their countries, and their commitment to continue collaborating to reinforce the longstanding and robust strategic partnership.
The two leaders noted that this was the fourth visit of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to India, in the last eight years and his second official visit to India as the President of the UAE. Sheikh Mohamed last visited India on 8th-9th September 2023 to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, where he met with India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the margins of the Summit. During that visit, Sheikh Mohamed participated in the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor on the sidelines of the Summit. Both sides highlighted the six visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE over the past nine years, with the last visit in December 2023 to attend COP28 in Dubai.
The two leaders discussed the significant global roles of India and the UAE in 2023, including India’s Presidency of the G20, and the UAE’s Presidency of COP28. The UAE commended the endeavors by the Indian Presidency describing it as the most ambitious in the history of the G20 and the efforts of both sides to maximize synergies between the G20 process and COP28 over the course of 2023. The UAE side expressed appreciation to India for inviting the UAE as a Guest Country and the Indian side praised the UAE’s key participation in the summit. The UAE’s involvement in the event was a clear sign of the country’s steadfast commitment to multilateral cooperation and international priorities on global issues.
The Indian side congratulated the UAE for successfully hosting COP28, for adopting the action agenda at the early stages of the conference, and for achieving an exceptional accomplishment concluding with “The UAE Consensus”, a historic agreement by 198 Parties to usher in a new era of climate action. The Indian side also thanked the UAE for the special honors accorded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to speak at the ceremonial opening of the World Climate Action Summit Plenary in Dubai. The UAE expressed appreciation to India for its support and contribution towards the success of COP28.
The Indian side also congratulated the UAE for joining the BRICS group on 1st January, 2024. The UAE side expressed appreciation to India for supporting the country’s application to join the Group and reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with India and other member states to realize the shared objectives of BRICS. Both sides committed to continue working together within BRICS and other international and multilateral fora to deliver significant outcomes. The UAE stressed that becoming a member of an extended BRICS grouping reflects the country’s keenness to champion the value of multilateralism in supporting peace, and development for the benefit and the wellbeing of peoples and nations across the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan witnessed the exchange of the following:
I. Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation in Innovative Healthcare Projects.
II. Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation in the Renewable Energy Sector.
III. Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation in Food Park Development.
IV. Memorandum of Understanding between DP World and the Government of Gujarat.
Recognizing the importance of food security, the leaders emphasized that the India-UAE Food Park project will promote the reliability and resilience of food supply chains and expand food and agriculture trade between the UAE and India. Both nations share an intent to implement this project, among others, in India, which will unlock further value for both nations and the region in food security.
The two leaders recognized the importance of the Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation in the Renewable Energy Sector, which focuses on forging effective collaboration in renewable energy, with the aspiration to implement energy projects.
The two leaders reviewed the efforts from both sides to strengthen the strong economic and commercial cooperation and explore new areas of collaboration. They noted that the UAE is the fourth-largest investor in India in 2022-23, compared to ranking seventh in 2021-22. They welcomed the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)’s progress in establishing a presence in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a financial free zone in Gujarat. The leaders underlined that these measures will further facilitate the flow of bilateral investments.
