Friday, 17 May, 2024
Over the last decade or so, UAE has emerged as one of the largest trading partners of India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just concluded a one-day visit to UAE after his interaction with G7 leaders in Germany. More than the substantive talks he had with the top leaders at UAE, what captured more attention was the fact the head of state of the country Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nayhan personally went to the airport to receive the Indian prime minister. There was widespread speculation about this trip since it has come soon after the massive controversy triggered by the allegedly insulting remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed. Many Muslim nations had condemned her remarks and even summoned Indian diplomats to register their anger. Given that backdrop, the success of the UAE is a clear indicator that strategic ties between the two countries are growing stronger. There was a time when criminals, gangsters, and terrorists from India found shelter in UAE. No more. Besides, UAE no longer pays much attention to loud protestations of Pakistan on matters related to Kashmir.
More important are economic and trade ties. Over the last decade or so, UAE has emerged as one of the largest trading partners of India. As the accompanying chart indicates, trade between the two nations touched $ 73 billion in 2021-22, after a few years of slowdown and decline because of the Covid pandemic and a slow down in the Indian economy. But the growth is still phenomenal. For instance, in 2015-16, trade between the two countries was less than $ 20 billion. Recently, the two countries have also agreed upon and signed a Free Trade Agreement that will provide tremendous momentum to trade between the two countries. Beyond the numbers, the economic and strategic ties have become important for India. A lot of wheat was exported to UAE after the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February 2022 and prices of the basic food item started shooting through the roof. When India found that rich nations were importing Indian wheat for hoarding, it banned the export of wheat. As a gesture made by a strategic partner, UAE too banned the re-export of Indian wheat for about four months.
An overwhelming majority of Indians also think that strategic ties between UAE and India are growing stronger by the day. This was revealed during a survey conducted by C Voter-India Tracker to find out what Dian’s felt over the issue. Overall, more than 70% of the respondents were of the opinion that strategic ties between the two nations is growing stronger. Significantly, even 58% of opposition supporters that habitually rejects any policy of the NDA regime shared the same sentiment. Surprisingly, while 78% of upper caste Hindus shared the same opinion, only 44% of respondents from the Muslim community felt strategic ties were growing stronger.
