Major bilateral investments are in store for UAE, India: President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed several agreements yesterday to encourage investments and cooperation across energy, technology, and trade between the two countries, Wam reports.

The agreements have been a long time coming: While the value of the agreements was not disclosed, news of the government planning to invest USD 50 bn in India this year — its second-largest trading partner — was reported by Bloomberg back in November.

#1- The UAE and India will set up a multi-modal trade corridor linking Europe with India through the Middle East, Reuters reports. No further details about the agreement were made public. The corridor “would build on previous understandings and cooperation on this matter and foster India and the UAE cooperation furthering regional connectivity,” India’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Background: The corridor, which would connect India to Europe through the UAE, KSA, Jordan, and Israel, was initially announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit in September.

#2- The UAE will connect its instant payment platform AANI with India’s UPI to “facilitate seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries,” the statement read. The two states also agreed on connecting their domestic debit and credit cards to streamline the use of India’s RuPay across the Emirates.

#3- Other agreements signed include:

  • A bilateral investment treaty to serve as a “key enabler” for boosting bilateral investments;
  • Several MoUs to cooperate in energy and electricity interconnection, trade, and digital infrastructure; and
  • A cooperation protocol between the National Library and Archives of the UAE and the National Archives of India on archival and historical material restoration

ALSO- Mubadala has its eyes on India: India is an “interesting” market for innovation, with the world’s largest population and one of the most digitized economies and steady GDP growth, Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said at the World Governments Summit (watch, runtime: 5:23). The country’s growth trajectory will be largely underpinned by infrastructure, Al Mubarak said, stressing that it’s important to “keep a close eye” on its growth story.

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