India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday set an ambitious target of doubling their annual bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to boost cooperation in defence, energy, space and civil nuclear sectors.
India also invited sovereign wealth funds from the UAE to participate in the second infrastructure fund that will be launched later this year. The new fund builds on the success of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
NIIF investment
The first NIIF has investment from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). In their bilateral meeting here, the leaders reviewed the full scope of cooperation and welcomed discussions on a potential UAE partnership for the development of the Special Investment Region in Dholera in Gujarat.
The UAE president was in New Delhi for a short visit that lasted just a few hours.
The envisioned partnership would include the development of key strategic infrastructure, including an international airport, a pilot training school, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, a greenfield port, a smart urban township, railway connectivity, and energy infrastructure, a joint statement on the visit of UAE President said.
Sale agreement between HPCL and ADNOC
During the visit a sale-and-purchase agreement between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) was signed. The agreement provides for purchase of 0.5 million tonne per annum (MMPTA) by HPCL from ADNOC Gas for a period of 10 years starting 2028.
To double the trade from $100 billion in 2024-25 to $200 billion by 2032, both leaders directed their teams to work towards connecting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on both sides.
In this context, they called for the expeditious implementation of key initiatives such as the Bharat Mart, the Virtual Trade Corridor and the Bharat-Africa Setu to promote MSME products across West Asia, Africa and the Eurasia region.
Both sides reaffirmed their strong commitment to enhancing UAE-India cooperation in food security. In the space sector, a letter of intent between the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and the Space Agency of the UAE for a joint initiative to enable space industry development and commercial collaboration.
India and the UAE have already signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and followed it up by the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in 2024.
Since the signing of CEPA, bilateral merchandise trade has nearly doubled from $43.3 billion in 2020-21 to $83.7 billion in 2023-24. In 2024-25, the trade increased 19.6% to $100.6 billion with India’s exports at $36.7 billion and imports at $63.4 billion.