Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan recently convened in Abu Dhabi to assess bilateral relations and oversee the signing of eight agreements aimed at bolstering cooperation across various sectors.
During his official two-day visit, PM Modi engaged in one-on-one and delegation-level discussions with the UAE leader, emphasizing the strengthening of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The agreements exchanged cover areas such as energy, investments, instant payment platforms, domestic debit/credit cards interlinkage, economic corridor, and digital infrastructure.
These agreements include a Bilateral Investment Treaty to foster investments, an MoU on energy security and trade collaboration, an intergovernmental framework agreement on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and an MoU on cooperation in Digital Infrastructure Projects for sharing technical expertise.
Additionally, agreements were signed to interlink instant payment platforms (UPI and AANI) and domestic debit/credit cards (RuPay and JAYWAN), facilitating seamless cross-border transactions and enhancing financial sector cooperation.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi reiterated his commitment to India becoming the world’s third-largest economy during his third term while addressing the Indian diaspora at the ‘Ahlan Modi’ event. With India’s upcoming general elections scheduled for April-May 2024, Modi highlighted significant progress made in various sectors over the past decade, positioning India as a global ally whose voice resonates internationally.
In a report released by the finance ministry, India’s GDP growth projection for 2024-25 was approximately 7 percent, with further potential to achieve a $7 trillion economy by 2030 under reasonable assumptions regarding inflation and exchange rates.
The Indian economy has surpassed expectations, with the statistics ministry’s initial estimate indicating a GDP growth of 7.3 percent in 2023-24, surpassing the Reserve Bank of India’s forecast. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed confidence in India’s GDP surpassing $5 trillion by 2027-28, paving the way for its ascent to the third-largest economy globally.
Moreover, Prime Minister Modi announced that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) facility would soon be operational between the UAE and India, ensuring seamless transactions between the two countries.
