After his visit to the mosque, Modi is scheduled to interact with Indian workers in their camps-ICAD.
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The Indian community in the UAE is full of enthusiasm to see, hear and cheer Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he delivers his public address at the Dubai worldwide Cricket Stadium on Monday. With the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) having a whopping Dollars 800 billion sovereign funds and India is keen to attract investments from it in the infrastructure sector including real estate, port development and railways. For the first time, though, Indian newspapers seemed lukewarm over Modi’s visit overseas.
Mr Modi was received at the airport by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan.
From a foreign policy and regional security perspective, the UAE has placed India at the forefront of its worldwide partnerships and recognises the importance of broadening a comprehensive dialogue with India that deepens and diversifies the areas of engagement, he said.
Modi will hold official talks with the leadership of Abu Dhabi and later visit Masdar City, a planned city project in Abu Dhabi, where he is expected to spend some time watching presentations.
Describing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a “valued partner”, Modi, ahead of his visit, had said the extent of vibrant bilateral relations were reflected by the fact that India was the second largest trading partner of the Gulf nation.
Headlines on Monday in the country’s press were hardly related to UAE and Modi even as many papers completely skipped the happenings at UAE and focussed on things back home instead, with only the Indian Express giving space to the visit.
In an interview published in Gulf News on Sunday, Modi acknowledged that “there is a mini-India in the UAE”. UAE has also emerged as an important logistics hub.
I’m confident that it is with the strength of the poor that India will move forward.
Indians in the UAE are the largest remitters globally, and sent $12.64 billion to their country in 2014.
According to experts this is a significant visit and will have number of issues on the agenda, including trade, investments, energy and security.
“Increased instability in Middle East is threatening Indian energy sources and expat workers”.
Many Indians living in the UAE are wealthy businessmen while others are poor migrant workers helping build the country’s dazzling skyscrapers and shopping centers.
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“The Emirates hosts 2.6 million Indian workers, around 15-20 per cent of who are white-collar professionals”.
