Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United Arab Emirates is the first visit by an Indian PM in 34 years.
It will be a packed two day visit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he travels to Abu Dhabi and Dubai this Sunday. It's the first visit by an Indian PM to the United Arab Emirates in 34 years, the last one being late Indira Gandhi who travelled there in 1981.
Trade and investment will be top of the agenda, hoping to get the UAE to invest a part of its USD 800 billion sovereign wealth fund in India. With nine per cent of India's oil supplies come from the UAE, energy talks are also an important part of the visit.
Describing UAE as a valued partner, PM Modi's Facebook page said, "During my visit, I seek to enhance cooperation in energy, trade and will talk to investors on why India is an attractive destination to invest. I am certain my visit will boost people-to-people ties between our nations."
UAE is India's third largest trading partner, and accounts for USD 60 billion in trade.
PM Modi is expected to visit the famous Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi, his first ever visit to a mosque on an overseas trip. Earlier in June, PM Modi had visited a Muslim shrine during his visit to Turkmenistan, and a photograph of him with two clerics was widely tweeted.
A spokesperson for external Affairs ministry, Vikas Swarup said that PM Modi would meet the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. He will also meet UAE's Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum among other top leaders.
There are nearly 2.6 million Indians in the UAE, also the highest among all expat communities there, who remit USD 13 billion, annually, back home.
As he did in the US and Australia, PM Modi will address the Indian diaspora in Dubai at the cricket stadium just before he wraps up his visit on August 17. Almost 50,000 people are expected to attend the function.