UAE, India map out frameworks for cooperation in defense, tech

India and the UAE are pulling defense, energy, and AI ties closer together. The two countries signed a series of agreements during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi spanning defense, advanced computing, energy, and logistics, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry, said on X.

The defense angle: The two sides agreed to a framework for a strategic defense partnership expected to deepen industrial collaboration, technology sharing, innovation cooperation, and regional security coordination, though few additional details were disclosed.

Part of a much bigger push: The agreements land as defense becomes an increasingly urgent national priority for the UAE following recent regional strikes and disruption that forced the country to rethink parts of its defense and supply-chain resilience strategy. Analysts previously told us that the UAE is increasingly focused on localization and on managing more of the end-to-end defense supply chain, with Emirati players shifting more capital toward defense manufacturing and strategic capabilities.

The push is already showing up in recent moves, including Edge Group’s acquisition of Italian propulsion manufacturer CMD, a wave of localization agreements signed around MIITE 2026, and discussions around a potential dedicated UAE defense investment platform.

What does India bring to the table?

India has developed cost-competitive manufacturing capacity and a growing tech ecosystem to match. India's defense industrial base has expanded significantly under the “Make in India” initiative, producing everything from missiles and artillery to naval vessels at price points well below Western alternatives.

It has also developed indigenous capabilities in drones, radar systems, electronic warfare, and missile technology. The BrahMos cruise missile (a Russian-Indian joint venture) is already a proven export product.

India can also absorb large production orders and has a deep pool of engineers and technicians — useful for the UAE as it looks to localize manufacturing without building every capability from scratch.

And on the AI front

The visit also helped the UAE-India supercomputing partnership move ahead with commercial terms agreed on G42 and Cerebras’ project to build a national-scale supercomputer initiative featuring eight exaflops of compute capacity, aimed at strengthening local AI infrastructure and data sovereignty.