• India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to boost defence ties, including possible co-development of military equipment, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in New Delhi on April 8.

• PM Modi and Al Maktoum discussed Dubai’s key role in strengthening India-UAE ties across defence, trade, technology, space and connectivity and people-to-people ties.

• Al Maktoum, also serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of the UAE, reached New Delhi on a two-day India visit. 

• The Crown Prince presented to PM Modi a replica of his grandfather His Highness 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. 

• Al Maktoum also held a meeting with the Ministry of External Affairs S. Jaishankar. The minister highlighted the tremendous deepening and widening of the relationship across sectors between the two countries in recent years. 

• He later met Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal in Mumbai. They discussed the contribution of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the rapid growth of bilateral trade. 

Key announcements made during the visit:

i) Setting up of the campus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in Dubai and commencement of the first MBA program in September 2025.

ii) Setting up of the first overseas campus of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade at the India Pavilion in Expo City Dubai.

iii) Commencement of construction work of Bharat Mart and the launch of a 3D rendering of the Bharat Mart complex.

iv) Grant of land for UAE-India Friendship Hospital in Dubai.

v) Development of ship-repair clusters at Kerala’s Kochi and Gujarat’s Vadinar.

vi) Opening of an India Office of Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

• The establishment of the first ever overseas campus of the IIM-Ahmedabad and IIFT in Dubai further strengthens 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 India-UAE bilateral ties have been on an upswing in the last few years.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)