India not immune to ISIS threat, says UAE

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept aside protocol to receive the “special friend”, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, when he arrived at Palam Technical Airport, New Delhi, on Wednesday evening.

According to Albanna, Modi’s visit “started a new path for to strengthen our cooperation”. “The Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to the UAE in 1981 was a quantum leap in the course of relations between the two countries”.

This has been stated by the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash in a TV interview ahead of Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to India.

Economy of UAE, one of the main producers of oil, has been hit onerous by falling crude costs and it’s anticipated that the Gulf nation would really like to make investments considerably in India’s power and infrastructure sectors from its sovereign wealth fund of round United States dollars 800 billion.

“The visit takes place after we chose to elevate our relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the PM’s August visit”, India’s foreign ministry secretary (east) Anil Wadhwa told reporters.

Sheikh Mohammed and Mr Modi will have their first meeting at the prime minister’s residence.

“This is Sheikh Mohammed’s 1st state visit to India & am glad he is visiting with his family”. In the afternoon, the Crown Prince will call on the Indian president, Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a lunch in his honour.

The prime ministers of Sweden, Lithuania and Finland besides delegations from Poland, Japan, Indonesia, Columbia, the UK, Belgium, Mexico, Germany and South Korea are expected to converge in Mumbai for the event aimed at spurring India’s manufacturing sector and creating employment opportunities. Delhi is also seeking to secure investment in major infrastructure projects as the government overhauls its dilapidated railway and road networks. The UAE already has nuclear cooperation pacts with France and South Korea.

It’s expected that the joint statement during the crown prince Al Nahyan’s visit will again find mention of cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Al Banna said that 16 agreements were likely to be signed, out of which 12 had been finalised and the rest were under negotiations.

Also, an investment of $530-850 million can get the UAE 25-40 per cent stake in HPCL’s planned petrochemical plant on the Andhra coast, he said, adding that the Gulf national can also invest in the planned 60 million tons in Maharashtra and the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Paradip-Surat gas pipelines.