The two sides decided six outcomes — setting up of a campus of IIM, Ahmedabad in Dubai and commencement of first MBA programme in September 2025; setting up of the first overseas campus of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade at the India Pavilion in Expo City Dubai; starting construction work of Bharat Mart and the launch of a 3-D rendering of the Bharat Mart complex; grant of land for UAE-India Friendship Hospital in Dubai; development of ship-repair clusters at Kochi and Vadinar and opening of an India Office of Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
The Crown Prince met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar as well.
PM Modi posted on X, “Glad to meet HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for even stronger collaboration in the future.”
Recalling his visit to the UAE last year, during which he participated in the World Government Summit in Dubai as the Guest of Honour, the PM said Sheikh Hamdan’s visit “signified generational continuity in the strong and historic ties between India and the UAE, emphasising the enduring partnership built on mutual trust and a shared vision for the future”.
“They discussed ways to further strengthen the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, especially in the areas of trade, investments, defence, energy, technology, education, sports and people-to-people ties,” a PMO statement said.
According to a Defence Ministry statement, Rajnath Singh and Sheikh Hamdan “expressed happiness on the current defence cooperation through institutional mechanisms, military exercises, exchange of training programmes”.
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“Both the Ministers acknowledged that defence cooperation needs to be scaled up to match the progress made in other areas such as trade and business, in line with the vision and determination of the two leaders — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They identified training exchanges as one of the key areas of defence cooperation which would enable understanding of each other’s defence ecosystems and accelerate strengthening of bilateral defence ties.”
It also said that the two leaders “expressed satisfaction on the active Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard cooperation and committed to further deepen it by formalising the same through an MoU. They were convinced that close collaboration between the defence industries should be an integral part of the bilateral cooperation. They emphasised on increasing defence industry collaboration and discussed opportunities for enhancing partnership in defence manufacturing”.
Both ministers “acknowledged active participation from the two sides in each other’s exhibitions and defence expos, and welcomed India-UAE Defence Partnership Forum which has the potential to result in strategic joint ventures and co-production projects benefiting both countries. They also agreed to focus on complementarities for the two countries in the Make-in-India and Make-in-Emirates initiatives”, said the statement.
Singh posted on X that the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE is of immense priority to India. “In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region,” he said.
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The Defence Cooperation MoU with the UAE was signed in 2003, and an MoU on Defence Industry Cooperation was signed in 2017.
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar welcomed UAE’s Crown Prince on his first official visit to India.
Upon his arrival in India, Sheikh Hamdan was welcomed with a ceremonial guard of honour and received by the Union Minister of State for Tourism, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi. This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as the Crown Prince of Dubai.
Dubai has been a hub in India’s commercial and cultural exchanges with the UAE. The strong people-to-people ties are underpinned by the large Indian diaspora in the Emirates — estimated at 4.3 million — with a significant majority residing in Dubai.
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In a post on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Crown Prince’s visit marked a significant milestone in the India-UAE relationship.
The Crown Prince also met Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal during the high-level business meeting in Mumbai. They discussed the contribution of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the rapid growth of bilateral trade. Goyal “welcomed the signing of milestone MoUs and announcements made at the business event and expressed hope that these will further strengthen bilateral economic engagement and take it to unprecedented heights. In particular, the progress on the Virtual Trade Corridor (VTC), and its contribution in facilitating bilateral trade as well as, as a building block of IMEEC, was acknowledged”, an official statement by MEA said.
The statement said the establishment of the first-ever overseas campus of IIM-Ahmedabad and IIFT in Dubai further strengthens the educational cooperation between the two countries and positions Dubai and the UAE as a key regional and global destination for eminent Indian educational institutions.
“This follows the inauguration of the first-ever campus of the IIT in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi last year. These initiatives will benefit the 4.3 million-strong Indian diaspora living in the UAE and around 9 million Indian diaspora in the Gulf Region,” it said.
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It also said the announcements regarding Bharat Mart and VTC and the MAITRI interface (to support VTC) reaffirm the importance India attaches to its trade and commercial relationship with the UAE, which has grown manifold in recent years following the entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Work on VTC also re-affirms India’s commitment to IMEEC. Bilateral trade, which is expected to cross US$ 97 billion, will receive further impetus through these initiatives and will help achieve the non-oil trade target of US$ 100 billion, it said.
Stating that India has been a prominent overseas destination for quality healthcare seekers from the UAE, it said that “as a reciprocal gesture towards this contribution, the Dubai government has announced the allocation of a plot of land for the establishment of a 100-bed “India-UAE Friendship Hospital” in Dubai, focussed on affordable healthcare to the blue-collar Indian diaspora. “It is also a recognition of the contribution of millions of Indians for the development and growth of Dubai”, it said.
According to the statement, Cochin Shipyard Ltd and Drydocks World, a DP World Company, signed an MoU to enable development of ship repair clusters at Kochi, Kerala, and Vadinar, Gujarat, synergising their mutual strengths. “This is expected to bring global best practices to the ship repair ecosystem in the country and add significant capacities. The MoU also provides for cooperation in potential offshore fabrication opportunities engaging other entities like Major Ports,” it said.
It also said that the setting up of India Office of Dubai Chamber of Commerce is a testament to the strong investment partnership between the two countries. Indian companies are one of the top investors in Dubai’s tourism, hospitality, healthcare, retail, education and entertainment sectors. They continue to top the list of new non-UAE companies registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce every year and account for 30-40% of companies registered in Dubai, including the Free Zones.
