There is no doubt that the recent visit by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates, to the Republic of India involves critical dimensions not only for the two countries, but also for the Arab world, for the strategic importance of India, which is reflected in its vital role, regionally and internationally.
In terms of the growing strategic partnership between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of India, which is reflected in statistics and figures, statistics indicate that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are associated with the Republic of India by about 956 weekly flights, and the number of Indian members living in the United Arab Emirates registered in chambers of commerce in the UAE is more than 50 thousand members, which is about 20% of the size of the members in the chambers of Commerce and Industry in the UAE, with investments of about 250 billion dirhams, according to recent statistics. The total trade between the two countries amounts to about $ 60 billion, a figure that puts the Republic of India in second place among the largest trading partners of the State of the Emirates, while UAE occupies the third rank among the largest trading partners of the Republic of India’s, not to mention the strategic connections represented in the energy file, where India imports about 70% of its oil from the Gulf region, which reflects the vital importance of the region in the Indian strategic thinking, and pushes India to build strong relations with the GCC countries in order to secure energy resources.
It is also well known that the Indian community living in the UAE plays a vitally important role in the development process taking place in all work and production sectors of all the country, and its role represents a fundamental pillar of the private sector in particular. On the other hand, the Indian market is the second largest market in the world with a population of about 1.250 billion inhabitants, which provides huge investment opportunities to the UAE capital in search of promising economic opportunities.
In light of the foregoing, it can be said that the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is critical at the economic, commercial and strategic levels,. There is a strategic project for the storage of UAE oil in India, which occupies the fourth place as the largest oil consumer in the world, and there are commercial horizons aimed at attaining a roof of commercial exchange estimated at $ 120 billion a year, which is the double of the size of the current trade exchange, within the next five years, so that the UAE becomes the first trading partner of India during the foreseeable future, which is a very important issue in the light of expectations that the Indian economy will be on the third place among the largest global economies within a decade and a half from now.
From a strategic point view, India represents one of the emerging international powers that play an influential role in the existing world order. It also has strong historical ties with the Arab countries, and in this regard, I refer to the strong ties that have linked our sister Egypt with India during the period of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser and India’s Nehru, which are ongoing and continuous ties, and recently experienced a strong boost through the visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to New Delhi. India also has strong strategic relations of cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States, especially the United Arab Emirates, by virtue of geographical proximity and historical and trade relations. UAE-Indian relations have witnessed many positive changes since the reign of late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, since he knew, God rest his soul, the growing strategic position of India and the need to build a strong cooperative relationship with this country, which he visited in 1975, to put a strong foundation for a growing strategic partnership that lasted until today.
On the Arab level, the construction of Arab relations with India is extremely necessary. In this context, we can refer to India’s growing ties with the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, where India represents a regional and international power that has been advocating Arab rights and issues for long years and decades. It also has independent international views and attitudes through which it can support Arab positions in this sensitive historic phase, when Arab national security is exposed to critical strategic threats.
It is noteworthy that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to India comes after a visit by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to India in the end of last October, to participate in the Third India Africa Forum Summit, and His Excellency visited the United Arab Emirates before heading to India directly.
There is no doubt that the preservation of the elements of national security of all the Arab countries requires working with regional and international partners and allies, in order to coordinate positions and strengthen the strategic interests networks, and in this context, one can understand some aspects of the importance of the relations of the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries with the Republic of India.
