Jaishankar embarks on two-day visit to UAE; bilateral partnership review and 2nd Raisina Middle East event on agenda

The Ministry of External Affairs said that during the visit, Jaishankar is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to comprehensively review the progress of the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The talks are expected to focus on deepening strategic cooperation, trade, and economic engagement between the two nations.

Additionally, the External Affairs Minister will participate in discussions at the second edition of the Raisina Middle East event taking place in Abu Dhabi, addressing key geopolitical and strategic issues facing the region.

The visit comes amid ongoing tensions in West Asia.

Earlier on Monday, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash called for reviving joint Gulf action, particularly in security and defence, and strengthening the collective security framework amid escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, with the recent one having killed 13 people, including an Indian national, in an attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport.

In a post on X, Gargash said the attacks had demonstrated that the security of Gulf states was indivisible and that targeting Saudi Arabia also undermined the security of the UAE and other Gulf nations.

"Since the onset of the aggression against the Arab Gulf states, stemming from the aggressor's misguided assessment that they were the weakest link in a war we sought to avoid, it has become clear that we are all targeted, and that our security is indivisible. For targeting the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia undermines the security of the UAE and all Gulf states," Gargash said.

"There is a pressing need to revive joint Gulf action, particularly in its security and defense aspects, and to strengthen the collective security framework. This is the dimension that has witnessed grave neglect, which has emboldened others to overreach against us. Gulf security is a shared responsibility that brooks no leniency or delay," he added.

The call for stronger regional security cooperation comes as the death toll from the October 10 attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh rose to 13 after the Indian Embassy in Riyadh confirmed that an Indian national injured in the incident had died.

India on Wednesday expressed stern condemnation of the recent attacks on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and called for immediate cessation, while reaffirming its resolve to ensure the safety and welfare of nationals abroad after an Indian died in a Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

During a bi-weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called the ongoing attacks, including the recent one on Aramco headquarters in the region, "totally unacceptable."

Voicing India's solidarity with the people and government of Saudi Arabia, Jaiswal expressed hopes for restoration of peace and stability in the region.

Further reflecting on the October 10 attack on Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Jaiswal said that of the 11 Indian nationals injured, three have been discharged while eight remain under medical supervision, with four in the ICU. He added that the last rites of the national who succumbed to his injuries were performed in Riyadh.

He assured India's continuous support to the affected and other nationals living abroad, through the Indian Embassy.

Last year, in his address at the inaugural session of Raisina Middle East in Abu Dhabi, Jaishankar had stressed that the partnership between India and Middle East holds "special importance" in a changing world. He said that India sees Middle East as a close partner and a crucial passage to the world beyond.

Jaishankar had said, "An India with wider interests and growing capabilities today contemplates the world with confidence. We certainly recognize the risks, but we are equally cognizant of the opportunities. For us, the Middle East is an extended neighbourhood with which we have now re-connected in full measure. It is a crucial passage to the world beyond, whether we speak of Africa or the Atlantic. It is about partners with whom we have traditions and comfort. What is needed most at this time is a deepening of our engagement, a prospect made possible today by more conversations and frequent exchanges."

He had noted that in a changing world, challenges are best addressed and opportunities ideally exploited by forging a shared agenda and developing a common purpose and mentioned India's efforts in doing so with nations of Gulf, MENA and the Mediterranean. (ANI)