India–UAE Visit Explained | Defence, Energy Deals & Strategic Shift

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]And for more on this visit, we are now joined by two eminent guests, Ambassador Sanjay Batachara and Mr. Atul Anja.

[00:00:08]Gentlemen, welcome to this broadcast.

[00:00:10]Ambassador, to you first, what did you make of the uh visit the way it's panned out so far?

[00:00:17]>> I think the visit uh is very significant and uh it has lived up to its expectations.

[00:00:24]We see the United Arab Emirates as a very unique and special strategic partner where we have moved from technical cooperation operational details into a future oriented partnership >> and I think prime minister's stopover in UAE on his way to Europe is a very clear indication of the very high priority we place to uh the our relations with them.

[00:00:49]It also comes at a time when the region is going through a reasonably tumultuous time because of the Iran war and the consequences of that on in the region and beyond and so prime minister's visit also is a very strong signal of solidarity uh with the United Arab Emirates and our future partnership >> indeed. Mr. Ana coming to you now. Uh did the visit the way the talks have shaped up so far tick all the right boxes for you in terms of optics and outcomes as well?

[00:01:21]>> Both ways. Romesh if you look at the optics the very fact that uh the president of the United States went to the airport to receive the prime minister very special gesture and uh in terms of substance if you if you look at it look at the agreements which were signed Romesh uh you know one on I think two to two to three on the energy security side of it you know availability of LNG LPG and of course on on energy reserves uh as As you are aware, ADN no which is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation has already located some of its strategic reserves in Indian vaults. I think that process is accelerating shows that the amount of trust between the two countries. Uh then there is also and I wish I have more details about it as of now I don't which is about the defense relationship and the agreement which has been signed. uh and third Romesh I think the remarks of the prime minister he's uh actually offered allout support to the UAE so if you combine it all together very very substantial and substantive visit so far Romesh >> indeed ambassador Bhachara just to update our viewers on theus and agreements signed as Mr. Ana was mentioning there there were more more or less five agreements signed one on defense two on energy security one on ship repair and one on investments let's tackle these issues one by one uh let's start with energy security ambassador what do you make of the two specificus one on strategic petroleum reserves and two on supplies of LNG >> you know u our relationship with uh the UAE on this particular sector has grown over time from a buyer seller partnership uh to one which is more durable going up and down the value chain in addition to looking at the strategic strategic possibilities. So what we see in this particular uh uh exercise is that uh the LNG agreement as you know is a very important component towards our household domestic sector and the provision of uh of the the gas cylinders that is there and that is often an input into this. So in other words, what we are seeing is that the UAE is getting directly connected with our overall governance aspects and looking after our citizens welfare and this long-term arrangement will be very useful. We saw when the hormuz issue had come out, the uh resilience of energy supplies had become a question. And therefore, one of the ways that you look at apart from you know diversifying your supply bases and so on is to see whether you can have a larger stockpile or strategic uh reserves uh within uh your own country or in places which are beyond the access of the of the straits.

[00:04:23]So we have as you know already have some reserves uh in in Oman which we had set up some time ago and we've been developing the domestic reserves and with this I understand what was being discussed was uh of a volume of about 5 million barrels which is a fairly significant amount uh of of of reserves uh and the way that we replenish it and keep it healthy would be a big asset in terms of our energy security and so in particular uh geopol political crisis where your economics can take a hit, the longer you can bear it out is is better and the more you can reach out to the more vulnerable people and in both these cases I think our agreements with the UAE tick both those boxes the strategic aspects of it as well as the governance aspects of it so very very significant >> indeed Mr. Ana, I want you to weigh now on the agreement on framework for the strategic defense partnership between India and the UA. Your thoughts on what this might entail in the days ahead?

[00:05:30]>> You see there is uh this is happening in a bigger geopolitical context uh uh and if you really look at the region there have been parallel sort of agreements signed. one is between between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for example uh and therefore uh you know India also needs a I won't say foothold but a partner uh in the in the region because of obvious reasons energy being one of the major ones as well as the welfare of the Indian nationals who are there employed so there is a strategic uh underpinnings on why we also need a major security relationship with this geography and within the GCC. I think this is where we are coming together. One is of course the Dukam port which is in in Oman where we have the Navy has a certain agreement with the Omanis but I think this UA is going to be very very significant and especially Romesh I I just spoke to you about the Pakistan Saudi aspect. There is also the attacks which are taking place between by Iran on on on UAE which the prime minister completely rejected in in in his remarks. Uh so uh there is a positioning which is taking place. I do not see it ever I mean right now requiring any activation but I think India is positioning itself well with Oman and the UAE on the security dimensions. uh especially because if you see the shipping which is going to take place Romesh because of the crisis the hormos there's a plan B which is already there which is that we have to take out oil from the from the Indian Ocean ports and already from the UAE Ramsh there is this Habshan pipeline which comes out from the Abu Dhabi gas fields and oil fields sorry and then offloads in Fujera which is on the on the on the Omani sorry on the on the Indian Ocean coast.

[00:07:28]in the Gulf of Oman. So I think that is very very crucial. And third, I think defense again and energy are going here together. Uh Abu Dhabi has a surplus capacity to produce oil. The very reason why it has stepped out of OPAC is because it didn't want to be bound by these quotas. I believe it can now supply about 4 million barrels of oil a day and that is that is substantial and most of it is coming through this Habshan Fujera pipeline. So I think it is a integration of the two. You cannot separate the defense agreement or which frankly I do not know the details. So I would not I would hesitate to speak beyond this point.

[00:08:07]>> But I think it is tied up with the overall relationship and especially the relationship related to energy and the presence of large number of Indian nationals in in the in in the UAE in the context of the larger Gulf security and the crisis with Iran.

[00:08:23]>> Indeed. Ambassador Batajara before we talk about trade and investment I want to go back to what Mr. Ana was mentioning there. Uh he says India has positioned itself well given the geopolitical flux we are seeing in the region and beyond. In that context ambassador uh it strikes me as uh as interesting that uh the visit takes place at a time when the Iranian minister is in town for the brick summit. And does that to your mind show diplomatic dexterity on the part of New Delhi to balance these seemingly contrarian relationships at once?

[00:08:57]>> Well, you know, India has had uh positive relations with all the countries in the region. So for us, I don't think this necessarily has to be a an issue of signaling. Uh also our support and endorsement of the UAE position is well known and has been articulated on several occasions. So I I I do not see this as signaling because I think we also are desirous of having uh peace and stability back on the in that region and our relations with Iran must also continue to grow. Um but I I wanted to while I do agree with what uh Dr. Na was saying about the defense deal I I think if I may just add a word on that because I think that's very significant.

[00:09:43]uh we've had a very active defense relationship with uh with the UAE but uh you know it was largely confined to joint exercises uh some maritime operations and you know some of the coordination that happens out of the operations that we all do collectively out of Bahrain. uh and so this one actually takes it further and this is what is so fascinating about our relations with the uh UAE that we take uh these tactical uh adjustments to a strategic level and I think that's where we are going in the defense area as well. So from what I understand the the discussions on the strategic uh defense uh partnership uh uh it probably has got a different formulation is really on five planks. The first is really to expand the scope of the joint exercises that we have to take it into uh the special forces to look at counterterrorism uh movements and to have the collaboration on that particular front which is an extension of what we're doing but there are several new issues that are that have come up as far as I can understand. uh one of them is about our collaboration in the field of uh co-production and joint production of various systems and subsystems and uh this is something that is butressed by the third element which is about uh technology collaborations uh co-development of certain aspects and the fourth aspect of that is really about uh the cyber security part of it and I think that is becoming increasingly important also with certain other partners that we have in that particular geography where we already work very actively on cyber security issues as we do understand you know the geographical space is now being overtaken by cyerspace and we need to have collective efforts and the fifth one which has a direct bearing on some of the developments in the region is about maritime security. Now we do have the white good shipping kind of agreement and some of the intelligence sharing on that but I think this is going to take this further towards more operational ability through the Bahrain operations in which many of us are collectively involved and to look at something that we can do collaboratively. Remember that we are also active partners in the Indian Ocean Rim Association IORA where uh uh the UAE is a very very active player and so we will see a lot of developments in this particular context and we should not uh uh try to look at this from the broader aspect of the geopolitical uh realignments that are taking place. you know the kind of positionings that the Americans might have in the region and also possibly the Chinese kind of intentions uh in the defense and security field uh for that Gulf region.

[00:12:36]>> Indeed Mr. Ana, when we look at the ongoing visit, two things clearly stand out. One, in the larger regional context, this is the first high level visit to Abu Dhabi uh since the uh conflict broke out. Number one, and number two, what is evident is the chemistry, the bonomy, the rapper that exists between the two leaders in question, Prime Minister Modi and President Shik Muhammad Al- Nahayan.

[00:13:03]your thoughts on how this might keep India in goodstead going forward the the the investment in the relationship per se at the top level and as well as the government to government level as well >> I think it's going on very well the top level especially when you look at the political systems uh in in the in the Gulf I think that matters very very substantially so the personal chemistry between prime minister and president Muhammad bin Zed extremely important and I think that has taken the relationship to the present strategic level we see I think that's a very very important factor Rish I also want to you know point out to one other aspect >> sure >> after the straight of foremost crisis there is a a effort to find alternative routes which bypass the straight of hormus >> and here it is interesting that you know there is this Omani port of Sar which is uh you know has a land corridor with UAE uh and then there is Korfakhan which is a port for containers in the UAE You find a lot of activity has started on these that is ships take goods to to Sar and from there they are trucked into UAE and from UAE they go across the Saudi border and from Saudi border they are radiating into Kuwait to the north towards Bahin through the King Fad causeway and to Qatar through the Samra crossing. So I think this is another area and and if you look at any of uh the supermarkets in the region it is stuffed with Indian goods you know you have these Lulu centers and others all across whether it's Bahin whether it's UAE uh and the other Gulf countries so I think UAE becomes a very very important element in this effort to have a plan B of an alternative corridors for trade and transport which bypass pass the straight of which we know what the situation right now and and and the end is and the end game probably has not begun may or may not. Uh so I think that element also adds a new dimension to the India UAE relationship because of the crisis which happened on around the state of the attack by Israel and the Americans on February 28th on Iran.

[00:15:17]>> Indeed I'm afraid that's all we have time for. I will have to leave it at that. May I thank both our guests, Ambassador Batari and Mr. Anja for joining us and sharing your thoughts and perspectives with our viewers at home and abroad.