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Informist, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – India and the United Arab Emirates look to double their bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032 by enhancing cooperation in newer areas and facilitating easy payments, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said here Monday on the conclusion of the visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan reviewed the bilateral cooperation and endorsed the outcomes of the 13th meeting of the high-level task force on investments held in September. They agreed to work to connect micro, small, and medium enterprises in both countries.

 

"The two sides have also decided to work towards interlinking national payments platforms for promoting trade," Misri said. "This will build on the already operational local currency settlement system and the launch of UPI (United Payments Interface) in UAE."

 

The two sides signed a letter of intent for the UAE to participate in the development of a special investment region in Dholera, Gujarat. "This is a mega partnership initiative that will see establishment of an international airport, a pilot training school, a maintenance-repair-overhaul facility, a greenfield port, a smart urban township, as well as projects related to railway connectivity and energy infrastructure," Misri said.

 

The two countries also signed a 10-year agreement for the supply of 500,000 metric tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas to India, beginning in 2028. Misri said discussions were held on several new and emerging areas of cooperation and to capitalise on new opportunities in the civil nuclear energy sector "in the light of the passage of Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India or the SHANTI law".

 

Identifying artificial intelligence as a priority area for cooperation, the UAE will invest in data centre capacity in India and the two countries will set up a supercomputing cluster, he said. Another key area where a memorandum of understanding has been signed is food security and agriculture, which is expected to benefit Indian farmers while strengthening food security in the UAE.

 

Separate letters of intent were also signed to prepare the framework for a strategic defence partnership and for a joint initiative on space infrastructure development, covering the development of two launch facilities and satellite fabrication capabilities. Misri said the two leaders held discussions at the delegation level and in private.  End

 

US$1 = INR 90.91

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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