PM Modi will meet with top leaders, including President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make a stopover at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following his State Visit to France which begins tomorrow.
PM Modi will meet with top leaders, including President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This is the second time since 2022 that PM Modi has made a stopover in the UAE. Last year, the PM met with President Al Nahyan on his way back from the G7 Summit in Germany.
"The India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has been steadily strengthening and the prime minister's visit will be an opportunity to identify ways to take this forward in various domains such as energy, education, healthcare, food security, fintech, defence and culture," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
In recent years, the PM has visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval hosted Saudi Arabia's top security official, Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, in New Delhi.
Another key area of focus during the PM's layover will be the India-France-UAE trilateral initiative, a key strategic partnership that was formed in September 2022 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The three countries agreed to work together on nuclear and solar energy, climate change, and biodiversity.
This will be PM Modi's fifth visit to the Gulf nation since assuming office in 2014.
PM Modi is set to visit France this week for a landmark visit. He will be the guest of honor at Friday's Bastille Day celebrations, which mark the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789.
A major defense deal and extensive bilateral talks are expected to be the highlights of the trip.