Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Delhi airport, underlining the importance India attaches to the high-level visit.
According to the schedule released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the UAE President will be in the national capital for less than two hours.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a volatile situation in the Middle East, marked by a sharp downturn in Iran–US relations, continuing tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen, and the unsettled political situation in Gaza.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Modi are expected to hold wide-ranging talks during the brief visit. Officials familiar with the discussions said key issues on the agenda include trade and investment, defence industry cooperation, and energy initiatives.
The evolving situation in the Middle East is also likely to feature prominently in the talks, they added.
This is the UAE leader’s third official visit to India since assuming office and his fifth visit to the country in the last decade.
India and the UAE have witnessed a significant expansion in bilateral trade and people-to-people ties following the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022, which has given fresh momentum to the strategic partnership between the two countries.
