ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India held the fifth session of their joint consular committee in New Delhi to advance and consolidate cooperation in all joint consular fields in serving the citizens of the two countries.

On the UAE side, the meeting was chaired by Khalid Abdulla Belhoul, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and on the Indian side, Muktesh Pardeshi, Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed a number of common consular matters, plans to follow up and develop them, and means to enhance joint consular cooperation.

Belhoul praised the historical relations between the UAE and the friendly Republic of India. He also expressed the UAE’s appreciation for the efforts made by the Indian side to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries in light of the comprehensive strategic partnership since 2017.

Belhoul stressed that the UAE and India have succeeded in establishing an advanced and sustainable model for their strategic relations, which has yielded many qualitative achievements in several sectors. The achievements attained within the framework of bilateral relations between the two countries constitute an incentive to move forward towards further success to achieve joint development goals between the two friendly countries and their peoples and to develop mechanisms and solutions for a future rich in cooperation and partnerships in the consular field.

Belhoul conveyed the greetings of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his praise of the positive developments between the two countries. He stressed the UAE’s keenness and interest in strengthening and developing relations between the two countries in a way that reflects the ambitions and directions of the wise leadership.

The relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India is characterised by a remarkable path of growth and deepening cooperation, especially since bilateral relations were upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2017.

The implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 1st May 2022 has greatly bolstered trade relations. The two sides seek to achieve a bilateral trade volume of up to US$100 billion before the target year of 2030.