Around 45 agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed between the UAE and India in just two and a half years, and another 12-14 are expected to be inked when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the UAE where he will be key note speaker at the sixth World Government Summit.

It speaks volumes about the growing engagement between the two countries that have traditionally thrived on trade relations, and about the personal rapport the leaders of the nations share with each other.

"The relationship (with India) has diversified considerably since the visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi to the UAE in August 2015. We are now engaging in sectors such as IT, space technology, defence, renewable energy, defence manufacturing equipment, security and more. In fact, the UAE has recently joined the solar alliance that was formed by India and France," said Dr Ahmed Albanna, UAE Ambassador to India, at the UAE Embassy in New Delhi.

The two countries have had three high-level visits sinceAugust 2015, as a result of which the governments of the UAE and India are now working closely through two committees and a task force.

Aviation is of special interest, mainly because the UAE is the modern crossroad between the East and the West and the fact that a large number of Indians call UAE their second home. The ambassador feels it is about time to renegotiate the air service agreement between the two countries. "All the national carriers of the UAE, and I mean Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, are at 100 per cent capacity. And Indian carriers, too, I am sure they have realised more than 85 per cent of their capacity levels. So I think we should renegotiate," said Albanna.

Around 1,075 flights operate between the two countries every week and the UAE carriers have about 137,800 seats a week. As per the ambassador, more than 55 per cent of Indians who travel abroad use the UAE as a transit point, so therefore, the scope of partnership is huge in the aviation sector.

Besides, the UAE government is keen on getting visa norms relaxed for regular UAE passport holders. "A lot of UAE nationals travel to India as medical tourists and for leisure as well. So, we are trying to see if visa norms can be relaxed for Emiratis."

In terms of bilateral trade, the two countries have gained a significant amount in the last few decades. Almost 30 years back, trade figures between India and the UAE was $128 million. Today it is more than $53 billion.

The UAE has already transferred $1 billion as part of the $75 billion promised for infrastructure development in India and has initiated another special fund for the development of ports.

The two countries are also working closely on exchange of information on terrorism. 
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