Modi reaches UAE from France, to meet president bin Zayed Al Nahyan

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (15) reached Abu Dhabi, UAE, on a day-long visit after wrapping up his two-day tour of Paris where he went to attend the Bastille Day celebrations a day before.

The Indian leader was set to meet UAE president and Abu Dhabi's ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and review the growing bilateral ties between the two strategic partners.

Modi was welcomed  at the airport by Crown Prince HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nayhan who the former thanked.

In a post after reaching Abu Dhabi, Modi tweeted in English and Arabic, "Landed in Abu Dhabi. I look forward to the deliberations with HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which will further deepen India-UAE cooperation."

He had said before departure for his two-nation visit on Thursday (13) that he was looking forward to meeting his friend Bin Zayed Al Nayhan.

"Our two countries are engaged across a wide range of sectors such as trade, investments, energy, food security, science and technology, education, fintech, defence, security, and robust people-to-people ties," he said.

During the prime minister's visit, energy, food security and defence are expected to be the main areas of focus between the two countries that are also expected to review the progress in their bilateral relations after they signed a landmark trade agreement in February last year.

The agreement -- Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement gave a new thrust to the economic engagement between the two Asian nations.

India and the UAE are engaged across various sectors such as trade, investments, energy, food security, science and technology, education, fintech, defence, security and robust people-to-people ties.

The Indian expatriate community is the largest ethnic community in UAE constituting roughly 30 per cent of the country's population. The number of resident Indian Nationals was estimated to be 3.5 million in 2021, as per the UAE records.

(With PTI inputs)