The UAE and India have strong bonds of friendship based on centuries old cultural and economic ties between the two nations and subsequently this relationship flourished with the creation of the UAE Federation in 1971.
The UAE appointed its first Ambassador to New Delhi in 1972 while India appointed its First Ambassador to the UAE in June 1973. Since then, both sides have made sincere efforts to further develop their relations in all fields.
The two countries have established strong partnerships in the fields of commerce, trade and Investment. This partnership is expanding, diversifying and emerging into a strategic partnership with emphasis on cooperation in defence, energy, space, and IT sectors.
Both the countries have speeded up the relationship to transform from what used to be a buyer-seller relationship into strategic partnership.
The bilateral relations have also received impetus from time-to-time with exchange of high-level visits from both sides including:
- On 15 July 2023, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi visited the UAE for the fifth time, marking a significant milestone in the deepening of the UAE-India bilateral relationship. During this visit, three crucial Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed. The first focused on establishing a framework to encourage the use of local currencies (AED-INR) for cross-border transactions by the Governors of the respective Central Banks. The second MoU pertained to the interlinking of payment and messaging systems, also endorsed by the Governors of the respective Central Banks. Lastly, plans were set in motion for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi in Abu Dhabi. Prime Minister Modi's previous visits to the UAE occurred in August 2015, February 2018, in August 2019 when he received the Order of Zayed, and in June 2022 to convey greetings to HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he assumed the presidency of the UAE.
- Meanwhile, in reciprocal visits, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, visited India thrice. First in 2016, then on 26 January 2017 as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day Celebrations. The UAE-India relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during this visit. In his latest visit, from 8-10 September 2023, His Highness attend the 18th Group of 20 (G20) Summit in New Delhi, in which the UAE participated as a guest of honour.
