The visit of a high-level delegation from the UAE to India on September 2-3 is expected to give some practical shape to the euphoria in bilateral relations created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country a fortnight ago. The 80-member delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, includes business and industry tycoons and is expected to set the ball rolling for the multi-billion dollar UAE investment into India promised during Modi’s visit to the seven-Sheikhdom Arab nation.

The delegation is coming to India officially for the meeting of the India-UAE Joint Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation. Al Nahyan and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will co-chair the meetings.

Indian officials and the UAE delegation will discuss a host of bilateral issues relating to defence, trade, investment, energy security, small and medium enterprises and sustainable development. During his visit to the UAE, Modi had signed a slew of important bilateral agreements taking the relationship to a higher level.

The delegation will discuss how to give a concrete shape to the setting up of the India-UAE fund of more than ₹4.5 lakh crore for investments in India’s infrastructure sector. The offer to make such a huge investment is by far the largest FDI offer India has received. The two-day official meetings and the discussions on the sidelines by the delegation members with the Indian side are expected to give a shape to the investment plan. The quick follow-up on the investment proposal is viewed as the UAE’s eagerness to scale up its economic and strategic cooperation with India. India is UAE’s second largest trade partner and the UAE is India’s third largest trade partner. Indian expatriates make up 30 per cent of UAE’s total population.

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