Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UAE counterpart are meeting virtually.
The signing of the long-awaited free trade agreement as to the primary outcome.
The FTA, or comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), was approved in December, and discussions began in October.
“With UAE, we are at an advanced level,” India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal said last week in answer to a question,
“We hope to make some announcements very soon on the UAE Free Trade Agreement.”
The UAE has been India’s third-largest trading partner for the past few years.
Bilateral trade was $180 million (non-oil) in 1985.
Although, by the financial year 2020-2021, it had risen to more than 43 billion dollars.
The total foreign trade between the two countries is around $60 billion.
The partnership is described as “dynamic.”
“We treasure our partnership with India,” UAE ambassador Ahmed AlBanna said.
Adding that signing the CEPA “would unleash a golden era in the bilateral partnership and increase trade, investment, and technological partnership,”
This will result in resulting in “employment opportunities in various sectors.”
However, UAE firms have announced “investment in J&K, Punjab, and many other states.
A trade deal generally takes months or even a year to sign, yet the India-UAE pact was signed in 3-4 months.
Dubai has been expanding enormously, making trade deals with several countries
A joint communiqué highlighting the FTA’s benefits will be released after the treaty’s signing.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Prime Minister Modi have had several conversations.
PM Modi was scheduled to visit the UAE on the 6th of January to sign the accord.
However, the trade deal couldn’t be signed due to the Omicron Covid situation.
He was supposed to visit the India Pavilion at the mammoth Dubai Expo during his visit.
Featuring India’s culture, Yoga, Ayurveda, and the country’s space program.
India and the United Arab Emirates have a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,”
These high-level visits have become more common in recent years.
PM Modi has been awarded the country’s highest civilian honor.
The Order of Zayed. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in February 2016 and again in 2017.
Defense, security, cyber security, health care, artificial intelligence, and blockchain have all seen increased cooperation between the two countries.
With a total investment of $18 billion, the West Asian country is India’s lone foreign partner in strategic oil reserves and one of the country’s major investors.
The country is home to 3.4 million Indians, the world’s largest Indian diaspora.