Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UAE counterpart are holding a virtual meeting

For the signing of the long-awaited free trade agreement as to the main 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.”

For the past few years, the UAE has been India’s third-largest trading partner.

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 amount of 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 made announcements about “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 just 3-4 months.

Following the signing of the treaty, a joint communiqué highlighting the FTA’s benefits will be released.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Prime Minister Modi has had several conversations in the past.

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, and Ayurveda, as well as 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 also 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.