PM Modi meets Dubai Crown Prince; India, UAE make key announcements to strengthen Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Babushahi Network

New Delhi, April 9, 2025 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum here on Tuesday with the two leaders discussing ways for stronger collaboration and boosting ties in a wide range of areas including trade and defence.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of UAE, reached Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day visit to the country. He later travelled to Mumbai and the two countries made a series of announcements including setting up of the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in Dubai, setting up of the first overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade at the India Pavilion in Expo City Dubai and commencement of construction work of Bharat Mart and the launch of a 3-D rendering of the Bharat Mart complex.
The announcements also include the grant of land for the UAE-India Friendship Hospital in Dubai, the development of ship-repair clusters at Kochi and Vadinar and the opening of an India Office of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
The first MBA programme at the campus of IIM Ahmedabad in Dubai will begin in September 2025.
This is his first official visit to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai. He is accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials and a high-level business delegation.
"Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future," PM Modi said in a post on X.
The Dubai Crown Prince said that UAE-India ties are driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity.
"It was a pleasure meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAE-India ties which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and lasting prosperity," he said in a post on X.
The visiting leader was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour earlier in the day.
He was welcomed at the airport by Union Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi.
PM Modi hosted a working lunch for the Crown Prince at his residence in Lok Kalyan Marg. He conveyed his warm regards to the President of UAE Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
PM also conveyed his good wishes to the new-born daughter of the Crown Prince Hind bint Hamdan. The Crown Prince presented to Prime Minister a replica of his grandfather Sheikh Rashid's bisht (traditional embroidered cloak worn over the Qandura by Arab men), symbolising the historic and generational political friendship between the two countries. Both leaders also discussed avenues to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UAE and strong cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Dubai.
The Crown Prince met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. They discussed ways to further strengthen the strategic defence and security partnership between the two countries in line with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Crown Prince held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
EAM highlighted the tremendous deepening and widening of the relationship across sectors between the two countries in recent years. The Crown Prince presented an original newspaper coverage of the successful effort of his father, the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in saving passengers on board Indian Airlines Flight 421 in August 1984.
The Crown Prince also met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during the high-level business meeting in Mumbai.
They discussed the contribution of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the rapid growth of bilateral trade.
Goyal welcomed the signing of milestone MoUs and announcements made at the business event and expressed hope that these will further strengthen bilateral economic engagement and take it to unprecedented heights. In particular, the progress on the Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC), and its contribution in facilitating bilateral trade as well as, as a building block of IMEEC, was acknowledged.
The establishment of the first ever overseas campus of the IIM-Ahmedabad and IIFT in Dubai further will strengthen the educational cooperation between the two countries and positions Dubai and the UAE as a key regional and global destination for eminent Indian educational institutions.
This follows the inauguration of the first ever campus of the IIT in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi last year. These initiatives will benefit the 4.3 million strong Indian diaspora living in the UAE and around 9 million Indian diaspora in the Gulf Region.
The announcements regarding Bharat Mart and Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC) and the MAITRI interface (to support VTC) reaffirm the importance India attaches to its trade and commercial relationship with UAE, which has grown manifold in recent years following the entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), MEA said in a release.
Work on VTC also re-affirms India's commitment to IMEEC.
Bilateral trade, which is expected to cross US$ 97 billion, will receive further impetus through these initiatives and will help achieve the non-oil trade target of US$ 100 billion, the release said.
India has been a prominent overseas destination for quality healthcare seekers from the UAE.
Generations of Emiratis, including those belonging to the ruling families, have benefited from India's health and wellness ecosystem. As a reciprocal gesture towards this contribution, the Dubai government has announced the allocation of a plot of land for the establishment of a 100-bed "India-UAE Friendship Hospital" in Dubai, focused on affordable healthcare to the blue-collar Indian diaspora in the UAE. It is also a recognition of the contribution of millions of Indians to the development and growth of Dubai.
Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and Drydocks World (DDW), a DP World Company, signed an MOU to enable development of ship repair clusters, at Kochi, Kerala and Vadinar, Gujarat synergising their mutual strengths.
"This is expected to bring global best practices to the ship repair ecosystem in the country and add significant capacities. The MOU also provides for cooperation in potential offshore fabrication opportunities engaging other entities like major ports," the release said.
The setting up of India Office of Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a testament to the strong investment partnership between the two countries, the release said.
Indian companies are one of the top investors in Dubai's tourism, hospitality, healthcare, retail, education and entertainment sectors. They continue to top the list of new non-UAE companies registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce every year and account for 30-40 per cent of companies registered in Dubai, including the Free Zones. (ANI)