Staff Report
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third visit to the UAE will further boost political and business relations between the two countries, said top Indian businessmen in the UAE.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on his third visit to the UAE when he lands in Abu Dhabi from Paris on Friday night.
According to an official from the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, all the main events will take place on Saturday. The sequence of events shall be held at the Emirates Palace and the Presidential Palace.
On Saturday, Modi will ceremonially receive the UAE’s highest civil honour, the ‘Order of Zayed’. A commemorative stamp of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary will be released, and the arrangements for the launch of the RuPay Card and memorandum of understanding will be signed. Modi will also hold talks with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
“There will be delegation-level talks, which will be followed with a banquet,” the official said.
This is the first time that an Indian leader was given the ‘Order of Zayed’ recognition. And the Indian government sees it as something of ‘special significance’.
Raveesh Kumar, spokesman of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement: “The award in the name of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, acquires special significance as it was awarded to Prime Minister Modi in the Year of Tolerance.”
He recalled that Modi was officially conferred the ‘Order of Zayed’ in April this year, in recognition of his initiatives that gave “a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries”.
With a robust flow of investments and an annual bilateral trade of about $60 billion, Modi’s latest visit “would further strengthen India’s friendly bilateral ties with the UAE”, Kumar’s statement added.
The Indian community is excited about the third UAE visit of the Indian prime minister. Yusuffali M.A., chairman and managing director of LuLu Group, termed the present phase as the ‘golden era’ of bilateral trade relationship, which is visible in sectors like oil, trade, infrastructure development, tourism and aviation.
“As India is marching towards its ambitious goal of becoming a five-trillion economy, the UAE will play a key role in this, thanks to existing trade ties, close proximity, large Indian diaspora and, above all, the personal and warm friendship between the leaderships of both nations.”
Mr. Kamal Vachani, Group Director and Partner of Al Maya Group, said: “The third visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will further boost the economic relations between India and the UAE,” said
Mr. Vachani, who is a long-term resident of Dubai, said that both the countries already enjoy a great relationship. With a large Indian population in the UAE, the Indian businessmen in the UAE enjoy a great atmosphere living and doing business in the UAE, he added.
“The UAE provides a very positive approach of doing business and also the ease of doing business in the UAE is also by far the best in the world,” said Mr. Vachani, who is also Chairman of GOPIO Dubai Chapter and Regional Director of ESC in the Middle East.
