INDIA-UAE BILATERAL RELATIONS BRIEF

Transcription

1 INDIA-UAE BILATERAL RELATIONS BRIEF India has had social and mercantile contacts with the Gulf and Middle East region since times immemorial if archeological sites dating back to 3000 B.C. or more in the UAE and Bahrain are to be believed in context. People-to-people contacts and barter trade in clothes and spices from India for dates and pearls from the region existed for centuries. Sharjah and Dubai were the main hubs for trade with the western coast of India, in particular, the Malabar Coast. However, India-UAE relations flourished after the accession of H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 and with the creation of the Federation in The relationship between India and UAE has thus been traditionally close and friendly, resting on firm foundations of political, economic and cultural links. High-level visit from India to UAE: Exchange of high level visits have provided the necessary impetus to the growing relations. From our side following visits have taken place: President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam paid a State visit to UAE from October 18 20, 2003 and again visited in November 2004 to offer condolences on the passing away of President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Vice-President Shri B.S. Shekhawat had visited Dubai in Jan 5-6, 2006 to offer condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. High-Level visits from UAE to India: H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President & Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising of 7 Cabinet Ministers, paid his first State visit to India from March 25-26, Crown Prince and Deputy Commander of UAE Armed Forces H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had visited India in June 2003 as the-then Deputy Crown Prince. Following ministerial level visits have taken place from India in 2007 A 5 member delegation led by Shri Elamaram KareemIlamiram Karim, Hon ble Minister of Industries visited Abu Dhabi & Dubai during May 5-7. Hon ble MOIA Shri Vayalar Ravi visited UAE in May and October MoS(C&I) Shri Ashwani Kumar visited UAE on August 7 AP Minister for Energy and Coal and Minority Welfare Mohammed Ali Shabbir visited UAE in September and November

2 2 Shri Pallam Raju, MoS for Defence attended 10 th edition of the Dubai Air Show in November Hon'ble MoS (Independent Charge) Shri Praful Patel attended the Dubai Air Show and Aerospace exhibition from November Hon ble Minister of State for Finance Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal inaugurated the representative office of the Union Bank of India in Abu Dhabi on December 1 Recent ministerial level visits from India to UAE in 2008 Hon ble MOIA Shri Vayalar Ravi along with Shri G.Gurucharan, Joint Secretary (Financial Services) represented India at the Ministerial Consultations on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia between January Union Minister for Textiles Hon ble Shri Shanker Singh Vaghela leading a delegation visited UAE between February 2-5 Hon ble EAM Shri Pranab Mukherjee transited through Dubai in February UAE Visits to India in 2007 H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President & Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising of 7 Cabinet Ministers, paid his first State visit to India from March UAE Under Secretary, Ministry of Interior H.E. Maj. Gen. Saif Abdullah Al Shafar, Under Secretary, Ministry of Interior led a 6-member delegation to India from May and met their counterparts from Ministry of Home. UAE Minister of Economy, H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi led a 8-member UAE delegation for the India-UAE Trade Policy Forum on May 28. Third India-GCC Industrial Conference took place in Mumbai from May A seven-member delegation led by Abdulla Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Under Secretary from Ministry of Economy represented the UAE. Foreign Minister H. H. Sheikh Abdullah led the UAE delegation for the Ninth India-UAE Joint Commission in New Delhi on June 5-6. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer from Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (MASDAR) visited India from July and met officials from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Environment & Forests etc.

3 3 UAE delegation headed by Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, participated in the International Conference on Federalism from November 5-7 in New Delhi. Defence Cooperation with UAE The fillip to defence relations between the two countries came as a result of the visit of our Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta to UAE in February. This was followed by goodwill visit of two Indian Navy warships, INS Rajput and INS Betwa in August in Abu Dhabi and later in December by visit of other two Indian Navy ships Brahmaputra and Tabar to Fujairah. India has been a regular participant at the biennial International defence exhibition in UAE (IDEX). It is a prestigious event with wide ranging international participation. A 2-member team led by Lt. Gen. S.S. Dhillon(Quarter Master General Ordinance) took part in the IDEX on February in Abu Dhabi. The UAE side also sent its defence officials to the Aero Show in Bangalore from 7-11 February Joint Commission: Ninth Session of the India-UAE JCM took place in New Delhi on June 5-6, The Indian delegation was led by Hon ble External Affairs Minister (EAM) Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the UAE delegation was led by Foreign Minister H. H. Sheikh Abdullah. Both sides discussed issues towards promoting bilateral cooperation in the following fields: Trade & Investment; Combating Crime, Terrorism and Illicit Activities; Education, Culture, Youth & Sports; Health, Science and Technology, Agriculture & Environment; Manpower; Energy, Hydro-carbons, Petrochemicals and Fertilizers; Customs Cooperation; Civil Aviation & Telecommunications and other issues. The tenth session of JCM is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. Cultural Cooperation: A Cultural Agreement was signed between the two countries in January A CEP was signed for 1994 to At the Ninth JCM in June 2007, both sides agreed in principle to enter into an Educational Exchange Programme (EEP) with each other. Other Local Initiatives of the Embassy of India: A week-long Indo-Arab Cultural Festival was inaugurated by Ambassador in Abu Dhabi on January 11, 2007 jointly organized by the Emirates Writers Union and the Kerala Social Center. The Second Gulf Regional Hindi Conference was jointly organised by the Embassy and the Dubai Indian High School, on January 16-18, 2007 in UAE. To mark the 57 th Republic Day Anniversary, Embassy of India organized a cultural show titled Feel India at the Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi on February 9, Third Indian Film Festival took place at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation from March 25-31, Nine award wining films, including Hindi and regional languages were screened. On October 2, 2007 Indian Embassy celebrated the 138 th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as the International Day of Peace and Non-Violence at its Auditorium. The UAE Government was represented by H.H. Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research who was the Chief Guest and Sheikh Ali Al-Hashimi, Advisor on religious and legal affairs to the UAE President. The audience which included Arab guests, members of the diplomatic corps and Indian Community members were addressed by H.H. Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Ambassador. The impressive function was attended by over 200 guests.

4 4 The second edition of Indo-Arab Cultural Fest 2008 took place between February 6-14, 2008 in Abu Dhabi. It was inaugurated by the Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, H.H Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad also addressed the audience. The event was aimed at promoting the cultural and traditional interactions between UAE and India. The fest showcased a number of traditional and cultural performances from both countries. The fourth edition of the festival of award-winning Indian films took place at the Al Dhafra Theatre. The event was organised jointly by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and the Embassy. The five-day festival between April 7-11, 2008 showcased nine films from different parts of India. Indian expatriates in UAE: Indians numbering about million are employed in almost every sector of the UAE economy. The community has played a major role in the economic development of the UAE over the last 35 years. The Indian community is respected for their professionalism and reliability. The socio-economic condition of the community is generally good. In view of these qualities, Indian expatriates enjoy an edge over other nationalities like Chinese, Koreans, Filipino, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or the Arab expatriates. At the Sixth PBSA in Delhi, Krishnamurthy Kumar from UAE received the award from Hon ble President Smt. Pratibha Patil. He was among the 12 NRIs who were the recipients of the PBSA on the concluding day of the two-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2008 on January 9, Mr. Kumar is also known for working for the welfare of Indians. India has ratified the MoU on Manpower Sourcing, signed between the two sides in December In June, 2007 UAE Government announced the amnesty scheme for illegal workers either to regularize their stay or to enable them to return to their country of origin. In all, 70,000 Indian illegal workers availed this opportunity and returned to India. On January 17, 2008, a function was organized in the Embassy Auditorium wherein Ambassador gave mementos and commendation certificates to the officials of the UAE Immigration, voluntary organizations, Community Associations and Indians in Abu Dhabi for the help rendered during the Amnesty Scheme of the UAE Government in Bilateral Economic & Commercial Relations: Trading links between India and UAE have existed since long. Growing Indo-UAE economic and commercial relations contribute to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationship with both sides striving to further strengthen these ties. Growing Indo-UAE economic and commercial relations contribute to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationship between the two countries. Both sides are striving to further strengthen these ties for mutual benefits. Indo-UAE trade, valued at US$ 180 million per annum in the 1970s, is today in excess of US$ 20.6 billion. For the period April 2006-March 2007, India s exports to UAE was US$ 12 billion as compared to US$ 8.6 billion in the same period in India s imports from UAE for the same period was US$ 8.7 billion while it was US $ 4.4 billion in the same period in Total trade for the period April 2006-March 2007 was US $ 20.6 billion and the total trade for the period April 2005 March 2006 was US$ 12.9 billion. Trade balance for the period of April 2006-March 2007 which is favouring India was US $ 3.4 billion and for the same period in was US$ 4.2 billion. UAE is the second largest destination for India's exports after USA. Many Indian companies have contributed to the growth of a number of sectors in the region, like power generation and transmission, highways, telecommunication, water and other infrastructure development. The presence of warehouses of the different Indian companies in UAE has also resulted

5 5 in an increase in the trade not only with UAE but also with India s trade with other Gulf countries. Indo-UAE trade for the last three years Value in US$ Million Years S.No EXPORT 7, , , %Growth IMPORT 4, , , %Growth TOTAL TRADE 11, , , %Growth TRADE BALANCE 2, , , Exchange rate: (1US$ = Rs.) Note:The country's total imports since does not include import of Petroleum Products ( ) and Crude Oil ( ) (Source : Foreign Trade Statistics issued by DGCIS, Calcutta ) Air Links: There are over 350 flights a week between various airports in India and UAE, shared by Air India, The Indian, Emirates, Etihad, Air India Express and Air Arabia. There are ever increasing demands from UAE airlines for more traffic rights to India. Indian Banks: The Central Bank of UAE had imposed a ban on opening of new foreign banks branches in the UAE in late seventies but after their WTO membership in 1995, they were given 10 years grace to remove this ban, which ended in In 2007, Central Bank has so far granted approval to two banks from India viz. Union Bank of India and Federal Bank to open representative offices in Abu Dhabi. Only Bank of Baroda, which had obtained licence in early 70s, is having full banking operations in the UAE. *********