There’s a growing interest for enhanced ties b/w India and UAE, says Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla

Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla praised Dubai as a great trading city, a great maritime city, a global aviation hub, and a financial center and an important place geopolitically.

New Delhi: The UAE is amongst India's most important partners, and in the multi-aligned world of our time, there is a significant and rapidly "growing confluence" of interests between India and the UAE, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said on Tuesday (December 14).

"The relationship is based on proximity, common interests, complementary capacities, and affinities. The visionary leadership of both countries provides direction to the relationship," Shringla said, addressing the India Global Forum.

"Dubai is one of the great cross-roads in the world. It is a great trading city, a great maritime city, a global aviation hub, and a financial center," Mr Shringla pointed out.

Describing Dubai as one of the major nodes in an interconnected world, he said it is one of the world's major energy-producing in the region and an important place geopolitically.

"India has one of the largest pavilions at the Dubai Expo and perhaps the most active government, business and cultural engagement," the Foreign Secretary said.

External Affairs Minister recently visited the Expo, and several state governments have already been part of the Expo, many of them at the level of Chief Ministers, he said.

He further said that both countries worked together to face the challenges of the pandemic. "We thank the UAE for the support extended to the Indian community during the lockdown and for the supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen(LMO), ventilators and oxygen concentrators during the difficult days of the of the second wave of the pandemic in India," the Foreign Secretary said.

Similarly, New Delhi also ensured that even during lockdowns, India's contribution to the UAE's supply chains for essential food and medical items remained uninterrupted. "We also supplied 200,000 doses of Covishield vaccines," he said.

He said that healthcare and Information Technology have emerged as major economic drivers in recent times.