UAE President’s Lightning Delhi Visit Triggers Speculation

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s lightning visit to New Delhi, lasting just over three and a half hours, sparked speculation about its urgency. However, officials said the visit had been planned since December and was delayed due to scheduling constraints on both sides, finally taking place now.

Initial buzz linked the visit to rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen and Sudan, as well as reports of a possible tripartite defence arrangement involving Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye. That, in turn, fuelled suggestions that MBZ, as the Emirati president is widely known, was seeking closer defence cooperation with India.

Those assumptions gained traction after India and the UAE signed a letter of intent to establish a “strategic defence partnership framework agreement” and expand defence industrial cooperation. The document outlines collaboration in defence innovation and advanced technologies, special operations training, interoperability, cyberspace and counter-terrorism. However, officials privately acknowledge that India and the UAE have a long history of defence cooperation, and that the letter of intent, by itself, brings no immediate change on the ground.

Briefing reporters after the talks, foreign secretary Vikram Misri rejected suggestions that India was being drawn into regional rivalries. Asked whether the agreement implied India siding with the UAE in the event of a conflict with another Arab country, a veiled reference to Saudi Arabia, Misri was categorical.

“Our involvement on the defence and security front with a country from the region does not necessarily mean that we will be involved in the conflicts of the region,” he said.

The warmth in bilateral ties was evident during the visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally received the UAE president at the airport, a gesture reserved for the closest partners, and the two leaders travelled together to Modi’s residence. The UAE is home to around 4.5 million Indians, the largest expatriate Indian community in the Gulf.

“The President of the UAE has just concluded an official visit to New Delhi. This has been a short but extremely substantive visit,” Misri said.

Beyond defence, the visit delivered several key economic outcomes. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation signed an agreement to purchase 0.5 million metric tonnes of LNG annually from ADNOC Gas for ten years, making India the UAE’s largest LNG customer. The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner, after China and the US.

Other announcements included plans to set up a supercomputing cluster in India, cooperation in civil nuclear energy, covering both large reactors and small modular reactors  and the expansion of bilateral trade from the current $100 billion to $200 billion by 2032. The UAE’s First Abu Dhabi Bank and DP World will also establish offices and operations in Gujarat’s GIFT City.

Modi and MBZ discussed developments in West Asia, including protests in Iran, rising regional tensions and the Gaza peace plan. US President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Modi to join the proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza.

Many observers believe the Emirati president’s brief visit was linked to Trump’s initiative, with MBZ possibly encouraging India to participate in the US-led peace effort. India has yet to take a decision. The UAE is a close US ally and hosts around 5,000 American troops at the jointly operated Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, one of Washington’s key military installations in the region.