India and UAE Strengthen Economic Ties: Bilateral Investment Pact Signed Amid Modi's Visit

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the UAE, a framework agreement on the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) was signed and a bilateral investment deal was reached. President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had separate but concurrent meetings on Tuesday.
In 2022, the two nations inked the Comprehensive Economic Partnership pact (CEPA), which was followed by the bilateral investment pact. The deal signifies a further strengthening of the already robust economic links between the two capitals, which increased by 16% to $85 billion in FY23. With $3.5 billion in investments, the UAE ranked as the fourth-largest source of FDI in India.

While Modi went on a bilateral trip to the UAE last year, UAE president Al Nahyan went to India in January for the Vibrant Gujarat conference. During the December CoP 28 summit, Modi also made a stop in Dubai.
They were pleased to see the expansion of their comprehensive strategic relationship into new areas like as energy, digital infrastructure, finance, trade and investment, infrastructure, culture, and people-to-people connections. The foreign ministry of India released a statement saying that the topics discussed included both regional and global concerns.

Additionally, agreements for energy interconnectivity, digital infrastructure projects, and financial connection were inked by the two parties.

Additionally, an agreement was inked between the two nations to connect the UAE's AANI instant payments technology with India's UPI. Similarly, the JAYWAN card in the UAE was built on top of RuPay's technological stack, much as India's RuPay cards.

Boosting RuPay's widespread acceptability throughout the UAE, this is "an important step in building financial sector cooperation," according to a statement from India's ministry of foreign affairs.
The discussions also included infrastructure collaboration. Two Indian organisations, Rites Ltd. and the Gujarat Maritime Board, have inked agreements to collaborate on port infrastructure development with Abu Dhabi Ports Co.