Newsletter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on a multi-nation Europe tour, made a brief but significant stop in Abu Dhabi where India and the UAE signed a series of major agreements covering defence, energy, infrastructure, banking, shipping, and technology.
The visit came just days after the UAE faced Iranian missile and drone attacks amid rising tensions in West Asia. Against that backdrop, both countries moved to strengthen strategic and economic cooperation even further.
The biggest focus: India and the UAE agreed to expand cooperation on crude oil, LPG, and strategic reserves.
Under the new agreement, the UAE will now store up to 30 million barrels of crude oil inside India’s strategic petroleum reserves. Think of this as India building a larger emergency fuel backup in case global oil supplies get disrupted.
Indian Oil also signed a long-term LPG supply agreement with Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC to ensure more stable cooking gas supplies.
The UAE also announced investments worth $5 billion across Indian infrastructure and financial institutions, including:
- $3 billion into RBL Bank
- $1 billion into Sammaan Capital
- up to $1 billion for infrastructure investments alongside India’s NIIF
The two countries also partnered on:
- a ship repair cluster in Gujarat
- maritime workforce training
- a supercomputing facility
- and a digital trade corridor to speed up cargo movement
