The UAE’s president and ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will host PM Modi as part of a trilateral cooperation project involving France, India, and the UAE.
On July 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with prominent CEOs, thought leaders, and influencers in Paris while also spending a day in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, en route back to India.
While President Emmanuel Macron awaits the visit from his friend and close ally Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the French Republic is prepared with a royal treatment for the coming dignitary. The list of CEOs, leaders, and influencers is almost complete.
It is believed that PM Modi will stop in Abu Dhabi on route back to India in order to meet with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and strengthen bilateral ties with the UAE. PM Modi visited Egypt on his way back from the US last month, as India’s robust engagement with the Middle East assumed a new dimension. On Tuesday, PM Modi met with Sheikh Mohammed bin AbdulKarim Al-Issa, a former Saudi justice minister and secretary general of the Muslim World League, to discuss the events taking place in the Islamic world. Dr. Al-Issa, a supporter of moderate Islam, is rumored to be good friends with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
The trilateral cooperation plan between India, France, and the UAE was unveiled on September 19, 2022, in New York, and Abu Dhabi is a component of the three nations’ close defence partnership. At the height of the global pandemic, it was the UAE that let its Airbus 330 tankers to refuel Rafale fighters in mid-air as they were flying from France to India. INS Tarkash, the French ship Surcouf with helicopters, Rafale fighters, and UAE Navy maritime patrol aircraft participated in the first-ever trilateral naval exercise last month in the Gulf of Oman as part of the initiative to keep the Indian Ocean secure from conventional and unconventional maritime threats.
The main goal of the trilateral exercise was to guarantee seal-lane safety for commercial trade while preserving freedom of navigation. In order to protect Abu Dhabi from air and missile threats from state and non-state actors, France maintains tight military and diplomatic connections with the UAE and has a permanent base in Al Dhafra.
The UAE and the US, along with Saudi Arabia and the US, are planning to jointly develop a rail-road network in addition to taking up other major infrastructures in the Middle East. Although the Modi government is mum about the Abu Dhabi leg, it is understood that he will spend nearly a day in the UAE on July 15.
