On his way back from Germany after attending the G7 summit, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a one hour stopover in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. He was accorded a warm welcome at the airport by the current President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Both leaders hugged each other. PM Modi also condoled the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, former President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.
How important are the two countries for each other?
The UAE is India's third largest trade partner after China and USA, whereas India is its second largest trade partner for the UAE. In the year 2019-20, there was a trade of Rs 4,60,000 crore between the two countries. After America, India exports the most to the UAE. In 2019, India exported goods and services worth Rs 2,26,000 crore to the UAE.
Today, the UAE is heavily dependent on India for sugar, fruits, green vegetables, tea, meat, clothing, chemicals, precious metals and stones. On the other hand, India is dependent on the UAE for crude oil. After Saudi Arabia and Iraq, India buys 10 percent of its crude oil from the UAE.
The total population of the UAE is about 10 million, of which 3.5 million people are from India alone. That is, 35 percent of the total population of the UAE are Indians. The big thing is that in 2018, people of Indian origin living in other countries sent about Rs 6 lakh crore to India, out of which Rs 1 lakh crore came from the UAE alone.
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