Jaishankar meets UAE Ambassador Abdulnasser Alshaali, discusses bilateral ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with UAE Ambassador Dr Abdulnasser Jamal Hussain Mohammed Alshaali in the national capital on Tuesday, and both resolved to strengthen India-UAE relations.

“Pleased to receive Ambassador @aj_alshaali of UAE this afternoon. Look forward to the further progress and development of India-UAE relations,” Jaishankar tweeted. Earlier, the EAM had met with the UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi in December last year.

Jaishankar emphasized that continuing conversations between the two counties on regional and global issues contribute to the strengthening and comfort of the relationship.

“Great to meet UAE FM @ABZayed in Abu Dhabi. Our continuing conversations on regional and global issues contribute to the strengthening and comfort of the relationship,” the Union minister said.

According to a news release published by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jaishankar discussed the opportunities for strengthening ties and broad strategic collaborations between the two countries.

The two ministers discussed strengthening collaboration in all sectors, including health, technology, digitalization, the economy, and commerce, during their meeting. A number of interesting themes concerning regional and worldwide developments were also covered.

During S Jaishankar’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the EAM spoke at the India Global Forum, calling the connection between India and the UAE “ambitious” adding that the relationships are not confined solely to bilateral prospects and can be felt at the global level in the future.

“It is in many ways a very ambitious relationship because it’s not limited by its bilateral possibilities. I’m very confident that as we get deeper into the relationship, it will also feel itself at the global level,” Jaishankar said.
The Minister further hailed the ties between the two nations and reaffirmed that India and UAE are two countries that I’ve known each other for a long time and would want to use this relationship today in a changing world.
During his address, the EAM also underscored the trade ties between India and UAE and added that UAE is today India’s 3rd largest trade partner and is also India’s 2nd largest export market.

“More Indian citizens live in UAE than in any other country abroad. So whether we are talking people, or whether we are talking business, UAE has particular salience in our perspectives,” Jaishankar said.

Ranking the India-UAE relationship quite high, Jaishankar highlighted how the ties between both sides have deepened. Both leaders held discussions on space, education, artificial intelligence, health and startups.

“The old, traditional energy trade investments continue, but a new agenda is also coming into being,” said the EAM at India Global Forum and panel discussion on India-UAE.