President of the United Arab Emirates His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi met in Abu Dhabi on 15 July 2023.
Both sides noted that this was the fifth visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to the UAE in the last eight years. Prime Minister Modi last visited the UAE in June 2022 when he visited Abu Dhabi to meet HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to convey his greetings as His Highness assumed the presidency of the UAE. In 2015, Prime Minister Modi became the first Prime Minister of India to visit the UAE in 34 years.
This visit was followed by the visit of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India in 2016, then in 2017, when HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. Moreover, the India-UAE relationship was formally elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit of HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India in 2017.
The leaders expressed satisfaction that UAE-India relations have witnessed tremendous progress on all fronts. India-UAE trade rose to USD 85 billion in 2022, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner for the year 2022-23 and India’s second-largest export destination.
India is the UAE’s second largest trading partner. In February 2022, India became the first country with which the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Bilateral trade has increased by approximately 15% since the entry into force of the CEPA on 1 May 2022.