- Joint Commission:
* The Ninth Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) took place at New Delhi on June 5-6, 2007
* for promoting bilateral cooperation in the following fields: Trade & Investment; Combating Crime, Terrorism and Illicit Activities; Education, Culture, Youth & Sports; Health, Science and Technology, Agriculture & Environment; Manpower; Energy, Hydro-carbons, Petrochemicals and Fertilizers.
- Foreign Office Consultations (FOC):
* The India-UAE bilateral FOC took place at Abu Dhabi on September 19, 2010 where the Indian side was led by Ms. Vijaya Latha Reddy, Secretary (East)
* Both sides exchanged views on a series of bilateral issues as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern
- Economic & Commercial Relations:
* The traditionally close and friendly India-UAE bilateral relationship has evolved into a significant partnership in the economic and commercial sphere
* Indians have emerged as important investors within the UAE and India as an important export destination for the UAE manufactured goods.
* There are more than 450 flights per week between various destinations of India and the UAE
* India-UAE trade, valued at US $ 180 million per annum in the 1970s, is today valued at US$ 43.4 billion (2009-2010). The bilateral trade is likely to exceed US$ 50 billion during 2010-2011.
* For UAE, India is the largest trading partner.
* India's major export items to UAE are: Petroleum Products, Precious Metals, Stones, Gems & Jewellery, Minerals, Food Items (Cereals, Sugar, Fruits & Vegetables, Tea, Meat, and Seafood), Textiles (Garments, Apparel, Synthetic fibre, Cotton, Yarn) and Engineering & Machinery Products and Chemicals.
* India’s major import items from UAE are: Petroleum and Petroleum Products, Precious Metals, Stones, Gems & Jewellery, Minerals, Chemicals, Wood & Wood Products.
- Oil trade: UAE was the fifth largest import source of crude oil for India in 2009-10 with an import of 11.60 MMT crude oil.
- Investments:
* Total FDI from UAE to India is estimated to be US$ 1.8 billion.
* UAE is the tenth biggest investor in India in terms of FDI.
* UAE’s investments in India are concentrated mainly in five sectors: Energy (19.1%); Services (9.3%); Programming
(7.8%); Construction (6.8%); and Tourism and Hotels (5.6%).
* Prominent UAE companies such as DP World, Emmar, RAK etc have invested significantly in various sectors of Indian economy
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Defence Cooperation:
* Both countries have regular exchange of dialogue in the field of defence with the signing of MoU on Defence Cooperation in June 2003 and setting up of Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC).
* The fourth Meeting of JDCC took place at Abu Dhabi in April 2011
* In recent years, bilateral Defence cooperation has been strengthened, notably in the field of defence training and supply of defence inventory, besides regular exchange programmes
* goodwill visits of Indian Navy ships to the UAE from time-totime. Three Indian Naval Ships, INS Teer, INS Krishna and CGS Veera, paid visit to the UAE ports in March 2011.
- Indian Ocean Naval Symposium:
* UAE hosted the meeting of the ‘Indian Ocean Naval Symposium’ (IONS) at Abu Dhabi in May 2010, where India handed over the Chairmanship of the IONS to the UAE.
* The Indian delegation in the meeting was led by Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Varma.
* The third Naval Staff Talks between Indian and UAE Navies took place at Abu Dhabi in June 2011.
* The first ever India-UAE Joint Air Forces exercise took place in September 2008 at the Al-Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi.
*India has been a regular participant at the biennial International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi.
- Cultural Cooperation:
* India and UAE have signed a Cultural Agreement in 1975.
* A bilateral Cultural Exchange Programme was signed for the period 1994-1996.
* UAE’s Ministry of Culture and organisations like Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) have been close partners in organizing Indian cultural events such as the Indian Film Festival in November 2008, SAARC Film Festival in March 2009,
* Indian Paintings Exhibition: ‘Spectrum’ in November 2009.
- Indian Community:
* UAE is home to more than 1.75 million Indian expatriate community, being the largest expatriate community in the UAE. 15-20 per cent of the community is made up of professionally qualified personnel, 20 per cent belong to the white collar non-professionals (clerical staff, shop assistants, sales men, accountants, etc) and rest (about 65%) belongs to the blue-collar workers.
* There is also a significant business community from India. The Indian community has played a major role in the economic development of the UAE. It is respected for its technical competence, sense of discipline and its minimal involvement in criminal activities.
* One of its attributes is its non-involvement in local and regional political issues and the law-abiding nature. The economic boom in the UAE has created a huge demand for short-term immigrant labour and white collar non-professionals and professionals are coming in increasing number from India.
- Grievance-redressal mechanism:
* Over the last few years, steady improvement has been witnessed in respect of the grievance-redressal mechanisms for the Indian workers in the UAE.
* UAE’s Ministry of Labour and our Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs are working closely to evolve a new arrangement that would make the system of recruitment and contracting more transparent. Mission is in the process of launching projects, such as pre-Recruitment attestation, for the welfare of Indian workers.
* There is Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) for providing food, shelter, passage expenses etc to destitute workers/housemaids in distress.
* The Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC), with a 24-hour helpline, was inaugurated in Dubai by Hon’ble President of India, during her State Visit in November 2010.
* India and UAE signed an MoU in the field of Manpower Sourcing in December 2006 and are in the process of renewing it.
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