PM’s UAE visit to advance Strategic Defence Partnership

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi’s brief visit to the UAE enroute to Europe this week will seek to advance Strategic Defence Partnership, the Letter of Intent for which was signed in January during the visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

While the key focus of the visit will be on showcasing solidarity with the UAE leadership amid war, Strategic Defence Partnership (SDP) will be on the agenda bolstering New Delhi’s strategic footprints in the region in the backdrop of Pakistan’s efforts over the past year to regain its influence in West Asia, according to persons familiar with India’s outreach to the region.

The SDP will span defence industry collaboration, innovation, special operations, interoperability, cyber security and counter-terrorism. The SDP’s intended aim is to build on the already existing robust partnership between India and the UAE.


“The Letter of Intent signed during the official visit of the President of the UAE provides for working towards a framework agreement for strategic defence partnership to expand the existing bilateral defence cooperation across a number of areas such as defence industrial cooperation, defence innovation, advanced technology in the area of defence, counter-terrorism, threats in the cyberspace domain and training. The agreement builds upon existing defence cooperation between India and the UAE and seeks to strengthen it further,” according to the answer provided by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in reply to a question in Lok Sabha this March.

Understandably, during the PM’s visit, a key focus of dialogue with the UAE President will be on the regional situation in the backdrop of the war and attacks on the UAE that also injured Indians.

Last week, Modi strongly condemned the attack on the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone in the UAE that left three Indian nationals injured. He had said that India stood in firm solidarity with the UAE, reiterating New Delhi’s support for the peaceful resolution of all issues through dialogue and diplomacy.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, had noted that the attack on Fujairah, which injured three Indian nationals, is unacceptable. “We call for the immediate cessation of these hostilities and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians. India continues to stand for dialogue and diplomacy to deal with the situation, so that peace and stability may be restored across West Asia. We also call for free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the Strait of Hormuz in keeping with international law. India stands ready to support all efforts for a peaceful resolution of issues.”

Since the beginning of the war, the PM had twice spoken to the UAE President expressing his solidarity and appreciated his efforts for safeguarding the Indian population.