India, UAE: Envision a future together

Inviting the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirate forces, Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al Nahyan, to be the chief guest at the Republic Day this year is one of the more significant foreign and security policy measures initiated personally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, provided this country can take forward the momentum on the various aspects of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that was signed in New Delhi last Wednesday, and does not drag it down through delays of one kind or another.

It is necessary to flag complacency and delay in light of the fact that, although expectations were high, no agreement could be signed between the two countries on the $75 billion fund of the UAE for development of infrastructure in India spread over a 10-year period because issues relating to the governance of the fund could not be worked out in time. Speaking to a newspaper, the UAE ambassador here said: “the ball is in India’s court”.

The fluff is all the more shocking as discussions around such a fund, and the notion of a comprehensive strategic relationship with the UAE, have been in progress since the Prime Minister’s visit to the UAE in August 2015. There was more than enough time to prepare.

India is a country that is diverse and has been welcoming of pluralism historically. A logistics, trade, infrastructure, financial services, and economic powerhouse, tiny UAE in the Arabian Gulf owes its rapidly grown prosperity in the 45 years of its federated existence to its firm support to diversity and respect of social pluralism, and not just to its enviable hydrocarbons wealth. It is the world’s only Muslim country which has a law against discriminating against other religions, and a ministry of tolerance. The establishment of close links between India and the UAE were waiting to happen. Mr Modi has given it a personal dimension. The challenge is to make it multi-dimensional through investments, a close defence and security relationship, and an orientation against violent extremism and terrorism, about which the UAE is very wary. MOUs have been signed in these areas but an MOU is only a work in progress.

Although India and the UAE are each other’s most important trading partners, UAE investments in India have been slow. Partly this is on account of our regulations that gave rise to disputes. These must be resolved at the earliest so that the awaited investment thrust in infrastructure can be realised satisfactorily. Fortunately, after the spadework done in the UPA-2 years, the establishment of a UAE petroleum reserve was green-signalled on Wednesday. About three million Indian workers and specialists are in UAE and the two countries need to clinch together a future of very close cooperation.