During the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, both countries signed the Framework for the Strategic Defence Partnership
- Framework will promote Defence Industrial collaboration, innovation and advanced technology, training, exercises, education and doctrine, special operations and interoperability, etc.
Other Key Highlights
- Promotion of Strategic Petroleum Reserves: Signed MoU to enhance energy security via crude storage in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves (Vishakhapatnam/Chandikol).
- Ship Repair Cluster at Vadinar, Gujarat: MoU between Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and Drydocks World (DDW) to establish a repair and offshore fabrication cluster.
- MAITRI: Both counties welcomed the operationalization of Virtual Trade Corridor using MAITRI (Master Application for International Trade and Regulatory Interface interface).
Significance of India-UAE Relations
- Trade & Investment: Bilateral trade hit $101.25 billion (FY25-26), targeting $200 billion by 2032.
- The UAE is India’s 7th largest investor, with economic ties streamlined by the 2022 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the 2024 Bilateral Investment Treaty, and the INR-AED settlement system.
- Energy: The UAE is India’s 4th largest crude and largest LPG supplier, and the sole foreign participant in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve program.
- Strategic and Security Cooperation: E.g., I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) and UFI (UAE-France-India) Trilateral
- People-to-People: The 3.5 million Indian diaspora forms the largest expatriate group in the UAE, driving strong remittance inflows.
