India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers UAE a ‘valuable’ partner in achieving the Republic’s objective of becoming a US$5trillion economy by 2024-25, according to an interview he gave to WAM (UAE’s official news agency) yesterday.

Valuable Partnership
“India has embarked on the ambitious, yet achievable, path to be a US$5 trillion economy by 2024-25. We are targeting about US$1.7 trillion worth of investments in the coming five years. To achieve this vision, the government is working to promote inflows from domestic as well as foreign sources,” he said. The Indian Prime Minister, who is on a two-day visit to UAE was upbeat about UAE-India relations being “at their best ever”, adding that adding that the UAE investments in key sectors – ranging from renewable energy, food, ports, airports, to defence manufacturing – in India are growing.
“UAE investments in areas such as infrastructure and housing are being enhanced. The UAE is our third largest trade partner with about US$60 billion bilateral trade in 2018-19. Many of our companies are investing here in UAE. Both countries are working closely and vigorously to implement the commitment of US$75 billion investment by UAE in India. “I feel immensely proud of conveying that India-UAE relations are at their best ever,” added the Prime Minister.

File Photo: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with Sushma Swaraj in Abu Dhabi.
Image Credit: PTI

Significant agreements
Emphasising on the importance of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, which was signed during the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to India in January 2017 as the Chief Guest of Indian Republic Day, Modi added that both the nations have since then take enormous strides together to implement key agreements in areas including defence, security, investment in infrastructure, energy and more. In other words, “our relations are truly multi-dimensional,” Modi pointed out.
This is Modi’s third visit to the UAE in the last four years and he believes that it will strengthen both the partnership between both the countries. “I am very upbeat about the trajectory of our relations and for opening up new areas of cooperation. I think there exist huge potential to make this cooperation a win-win (partnership) for both countries,” he added.

Indian diaspora in UAE
The Indian Prime Minister, who received the Order of Zayed – the highest civilian award in the UAE, said he was “immensely proud” of the Indian expatriate community and their contribution in building a modern, diverse, and vibrant UAE. “Apart from the Indians whose remittances sustain their families back home in India, we are also witnessing a steady increase in investments into India by some of the top Indian business leaders in UAE.

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Investment-led Growth
According to the Indian PM, India has become “the fastest growing major economy in the world,” in the past few years and India’s vision for the next five years was to have an investment-led growth, the Indian Prime Minister said in spite of global economy facing some headwinds, he is confident that India’s fundamentals are very strong, driven by “numerous” strengths. “I am confident that the collective endeavour of 1.3 billion Indians comprising millions of farmers, hundreds of thousands of industrialists and young entrepreneurs and start-ups and women, will ensure this,” Modi said.