Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was on Thursday accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour in the sprawling courtyard of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in what is his first state visit to India.
Al Nahyan, who is on a three-day visit to the country, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Modi and Al Nahyan, who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces, later met at the Prime Minister’s residence. “An exceptional tete-a-tete. PM meets the Crown Prince for a restricted meeting at 7RCR before talks in the evening,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
The two leaders are expected to sign a number of agreements after detailed discussions. Ways to contain radicalism, stepping-up counter-terrorism cooperation and dealing with the ISIS are likely to figure prominently in the talks.
Before his ceremonial welcome, the Crown Prince also visited Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat, laid a wreath and planted a sapling there.
The Crown Prince also met President Pranab Mukherjee. Asserting that UAE’s $3 billion investment in India was far below the potential, Mukherjee said New Delhi attaches high priority to enhancing bilateral investment ties with the Gulf nation.
Welcoming the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President said India shares UAE’s desire for a closer partnership between the two countries.
On economic relations, Mukherjee said India attaches high priority to enhancing bilateral investment ties with the UAE. He said though bilateral trade ties between the two countries are growing satisfactorily, the UAE’s investment in FDI in India – of about $3 billion – is “far below the existing opportunities and potential”.
Mukherjee said during Modi’s visit to the UAE, the two countries had agreed that investment institutions in the Gulf nation would be encouraged to invest in India’s infrastructure – including through India-UAE Infrastructure Investment Fund and a target of $75 billion was set for the same.
“India looks forward to working together with UAE to achieve this,” he said. India appreciates the vision of the Crown Prince’s father, Sheikh Zayed and the personal commitment of the Crown Prince to strengthen bilateral ties with India, Mukherjee said.