Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to make his third state visit to the UAE on August 23-24 and during his visit, he will be given a very high honour in the UAE.
Modi is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. During his time in this position, he has visited the UAE in August 2015 for trade talks, and then again in February 2-19 when he was standing as chief guest of the World Government Summit held in Dubai.
Modi and Sheikh Zayed in 2015
Modi and Sheikh Zayed in 2018
He will stay in the UAE for two days, where he will meet with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The two leaders will discuss was in which to maintain and strengthen the already close bonds between the UAE and India.
Modi will also receive the UAE’s highest civil decoration: the Order of Zayed. The decoration, which has also been given once to the Moroccan king, is being given to Modi in recognition of his contribution to developing relations between the India and the UAE.
The Order of Zayed
An official statements reads:
“Prime Minister Modi would receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil decoration of the UAE which was conferred earlier in April 2019 in recognition of the distinguished leadership of Prime Minister Modi for giving a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries. The award in the name of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE, acquires special significance as it was awarded to Prime Minister Modi in the year of the birth centenary of Sheikh Zayed,”
It’s also been revealed the extent of trade between the two countries and the scale of the Indian community in the UAE.
“With robust flow of bilateral investments and an annual bilateral trade of about $60 billion, the UAE is our third-largest trade partner. Also, the UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India. A 3.3 million-strong vibrant Indian community in the UAE nourishes the vibrant people-to-people contacts between our two friendly countries. The visit would further strengthen our friendly bilateral ties with the UAE.”
Estimations of Indian population in the emirates range from around 22% all the way to 30% of all people in the country. This makes the Indian community the largest single-nationality presence in the UAE.
