India and UAE: A thali of prospects

The Prime Minister’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates had many firsts: it was the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to the UAE in 34 years; the first occasion when such a high-level visit was organised in just 10 days; the first time an Indian leader met his nationals at a labour camp; the first time an Indian leader took a “selfie” with his accompanying ministers during the official visit; and the first speech by an Indian Prime Minister to the Indian community at a cricket stadium.

Besides these “firsts”, the visit was historic in several other ways as well: in almost all the curtain-raisers before the Prime Minister’s arrival there were references to the fact that this was Mr Modi’s first visit to an Arab capital. Mr Modi is, of course, being watched very closely by the media for indications whether his Hindutva credentials are getting diluted or re-affirmed. Hence, his visit to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque evoked special attention.

In the event, Mr Modi got everything right, and the UAE leaders responded with extraordinary enthusiasm as well. Thus, the visit became a celebration of India and UAE’s historic ties, stressed the central importance of the Indian community’s role in the region’s development, and laid the foundations for a significant enhancement of political and economic relations in coming years. At the outset itself Mr Modi set the right note: at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, the Prime Minister wrote in the visitors’ book that the mosque is “the symbol of peace, piety, harmony and inclusiveness that are inherent in the faith of Islam”.

To business persons, Mr Modi presented India as a land of opportunity, not just idle talk, but backed up by specific projects valued at around $1 trillion. While his lunch on day one was with the political head of the Abu Dhabi emirate, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also the crown prince, his dinner was with the sheikh’s younger brother, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the chairman of the country’s sovereign fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Valued at around $800 billion, it is perhaps the second-largest sovereign fund in the world.

The dinner went beyond dollars and cents: India’s celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor prepared a Gujarati meal, described as a “royal Gujarati thali”, that had great delicacies, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, from the Prime Minister’s home state, a wonderfully sensitive touch by the host. Enthused by this great food, the Emirati royals did their best to prepare the basis for bilateral ties to scale new heights: in a dramatic gesture, they agreed to set up with India a joint fund valued at a staggering $75 billion to build railways, ports, roads and various other national development projects. This is not only a robust vote of confidence in India’s political and economic prospects, it also makes the UAE a long-term partner in this national endeavour.

Of course, the UAE officials and business persons did not mince words in conveying their unhappiness with several aspects of India’s economic policies, particularly its regulations and the unfriendly business environment, a clear reference to several UAE projects in the areas of ports, real estate, industry and telecommunications that have fallen foul of our rules, with their failure having soured ties in the past.

In the political area too there was considerable meeting of minds: the Abu Dhabi crown prince noted the two countries’ “common vision” on a number of regional and global issues and their shared commitment to “tolerance, co-existence, fostering understanding, dialogue and openness to other cultures”. In the joint statement issued at the end of the visit, the two leaders strongly rejected extremism and the use of religion to justify terror. More importantly, they were equally sharp in their criticism of states that sponsored terror in the name of religion, and called on them to dismantle terror structures on their soil.

Prime Minister Modi’s address to the Indian community at the cricket stadium in Dubai replicated his public engagements with the Indian diaspora in New York and Sydney, but the difference in Dubai was that here he was speaking to Indian nationals, people whose interests are firmly anchored in India, who follow Indian affairs very closely and, indeed, whose well-being is directly affected by policy decisions taken in India.

Mr Modi is thus their Prime Minister in the truest sense. And Mr Modi did not let them down: he celebrated India’s ties with the UAE and paid fulsome tribute to its leaders, briefed his community about their country’s recent initiatives at home and in the region, delighted them with his references to “new-look” India, recognised the major presence of Keralites in the Gulf by saying a few words in Malayalam, and was inspirational about India’s prospects and its global profile.

India’s ties with the UAE have peaked in terms of energy and economic cooperation and the presence of the Indian community: the country is the fourth largest source of oil to India, is its major trade partner, and is home to an Indian community of about three million. With this visit, the ground has been prepared to take India-UAE relations to the level of a strategic partnership that includes enhanced economic ties in the shape of investments and joint ventures and also has political, security, defence and intelligence components.

Every one of these aspects is reflected in the pronouncements of the leaders on both sides and in the documents they have concluded. But it will require tremendous effort, stamina and consistent application on both sides to realise the vision and programmes that have been agreed to. The real hard work to reap the benefits of the visit has just begun.

The author is a former ambassador to the UAE