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An investment treaty was signed between India and UAE following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan held on Tuesday.
India has signed both a Bilateral Investment Treaty and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with UAE, which are going to be a key enabler for further promoting investments in both countries. Explaining the bilateral investment treaty, India's foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said it aims to promote further capital flows between the two economies. "The agreement will set the basis for a stronger and more extensive wide-ranging investments partnership, cause it focuses not just on protecting the existing investment it also advances the objective of promoting further capital flows between the two economies," Kwatra told reporters. PM Modi who arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday on an official two-day visit to the UAE. In a special and warm gesture, he was received at the airport by the President of the UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and thereafter, accorded a ceremonial welcome. The two leaders held one-on-one and delegation-level talks. They reviewed the bilateral partnership and discussed new areas of cooperation. They welcomed the deepening of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across sectors, including trade and investment, digital infrastructure, fintech, energy, infrastructure, culture and people-to-people ties. Discussions also covered regional and global issues. According to an MEA press release, India and the UAE are among each other's top trading partners, with a bilateral trade of about USD 85 billion in 2022-23. The UAE is also among the top four investors in India in terms of foreign direct investments in 2022-23. Besides the bilateral investment treaty, an Inter-governmental Framework Agreement concerning Cooperation for the Empowerment and Operation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor was inked to further regional connectivity. MoUs on cooperation in the field of electricity interconnection and trade, Cooperation in Digital Infrastructure Projects; Cooperation Protocol between the National Library and Archives of the UAE and the National Archives of India; Development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex; interlinking of the instant payment platforms - UPI (India) and AANI (UAE); and inter-linking domestic debit/credit cards - RuPay (India) with JAYWAN (UAE), among others. PM Modi congratulated President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the launch of UAE's domestic card JAYWAN, which is based on the digital RuPay credit and debit card stack. The leaders witnessed a transaction made using the JAYWAN card. Both leaders also discussed the strengthening of energy partnerships. They appreciated that in addition to the UAE being among the largest sources of crude and LPG, India is now entering into long-term contracts for LNG. (ANI)
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