India and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday signed an agreement on a trade corridor that aims to connect Europe with India through parts of the Middle East by sea and rail, an ambitious plan backed by the US and the European Union.
His trip comes ahead of India’s national election which is expected to begin in April.
Modi was due to inaugurate the Middle East’s largest Hindu temple on Wednesday, a day after he addresses thousands of expatriates in a community event in the capital Abu Dhabi.
The visit is largely focused on galvanising the diaspora, according to experts, even though Indians in the UAE can’t vote from abroad.
The UAE is home to about 3.5 million Indian nationals — the largest expatriate community in the Gulf country.
Monday, Modi met the UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to the Indian foreign ministry and local state media, their fifth meeting in eight months.
They inked several deals, including a bilateral investment treaty, building on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2022, India’s foreign ministry said.
“This would build on previous understandings and cooperation on this matter and foster India and the UAE cooperation furthering regional connectivity,” the ministry statement said.
The corridor, announced last September on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, aims to extend from India across the Arabian Sea to the United Arab Emirates and through Saudi Arabia before connecting through Jordan and Israel to Europe.
The ministry’s statement, however, made no mention of any country apart from India and the UAE, a regional Gulf Arab power, whose ties are built on over a century of trade links.
The agreement on the India-Middle East Economic Corridor comes amid the more than four-month conflict in Gaza that has derailed US-backed plans to further integrate Israel with its Arab neighbours. Saudi Arabia has halted normalisation plans.
The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on details of the agreement.—Reuters
