UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Archives - Lokmarg

Trudeau Discusses India-Canada Row With UAE Prez

By LokMarg 9th October 2023

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday discussed the India-Canada row with the President of UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, stating that it is important to uphold and respect the “rule of law”.

The Canadian PM held a telephone conversation with the President of UAE and the two also spoke about the current situation in Israel. The two leaders expressed concern about the need to protect civilian life.

“On the phone today, His Highness @MohamedBinZayed and I spoke about the current situation in Israel. We expressed our deep concern and discussed the need to protect civilian life,” posted Trudeau on X.

“We also spoke about India and the importance of upholding – and respecting – the rule of law,” his post added.

On Sunday, UK PM Rishi Sunak called for de-escalation of the India-Canada row in a call with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

According to a Downing Street statement, Sunak spoke to Trudeau on Friday evening during which he was updated on the situation relating to Canadian diplomats in India.

“He (Rishi Sunak) hoped to see a de-escalation in the situation and agreed to remain in contact with Prime Minister Trudeau on the next steps,” read the statement.

Sunak also reaffirmed the UK’s position that all countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law, including the principles of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Meanwhile, Trudeau updated on the situation relating to Canadian diplomats in India.

The diplomatic ties between India and Canada deteriorated after the Canadian government expelled a senior Indian diplomat accusing India of playing a role in the assassination of a Khalistani separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

In the aftermath, India swiftly retaliated by issuing a statement that denied any involvement in the issue and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.

Moreover, amid escalating tensions, India called for parity in the number of Canadian diplomats in India.

Responding to reports claiming that India has asked Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier this month said that Canadian diplomatic presence is much higher in India and they assume “there would be reduction”.

“On discussions on parity, given the much higher presence of diplomats or diplomatic presence here and their interference in our internal matters, we have sought parity in our respective diplomatic presence. Discussions are ongoing to achieve this. Given that Canadian diplomatic presence is higher, we would assume that there would be a reduction,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. (ANI)

UAE Prez Nahyan Arrives In Delhi To Attend G20 Summit

By LokMarg 8th September 2023

The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Friday arrived at Delhi’s Palam airbase to attend the G20 summit.

The two-day summit, being hosted in the national capital under India’s presidency of the 20-member bloc, will get underway at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam from Saturday.

President Al Nahyan was received by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai.

Meanwhile, ahead of the G20 summit, which will bring together some of the most powerful leaders of the free world as well as delegates representing international organisations, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, “The coming together of the 41 Heads of delegations, Heads of State/Govt, Heads of international organisations in India, starting yesterday is under PM’s personal leadership and direction. It is essentially a celebration of the coming together of the G 20 family…This is the largest-ever participation of the Global South in India.”

India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, last year, with about 200 related meetings organised across 60 Indian cities.

The 18th G20 Summit will be a culmination of all the G20 processes and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials, and civil societies.

One of the takeaways of India’s G20 presidency is the revolutionisation of Digital Payment Infrastructure, as initially very few people knew about it, but it has taken forward extensively, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Friday.

After concluding his recent official visit to the UAE, PM Modi shared a video clip of his trip to the Gulf nation saying both countries will continue to work closely for the global good.

Sharing the video on Twitter, which showed him attending important events in the UAE, PM Modi posted, “India and UAE will keep working closely to further global good!”

During the visit, PM Modi and UAE President Al Nahyan affirmed that India’s G20 presidency will play an important role in accelerating cooperation in combating climate change, said the India-UAE joint statement on Climate Change.

PM Modi and the UAE President recognized the urgent need to address the global challenge of climate change through global collective action while respecting the foundational principles and obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on the Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, read a joint press release.

PM Modi also congratulated UAE on being chosen as the host country for COP28 in 2023 while pledging the country’s full support to the Gulf nation as it assumes the COP28 Presidency. President Al Nahyan, in turn, congratulated India on its leadership role in the G20.

Both leaders affirmed the importance and significance of India’s G20 presidency while stressing the grouping’s role in fostering and accelerating cooperation in combating climate change, with emphasis on finance and technology as critical enablers, as well as on just, inclusive and sustainable energy transitions, the joint statement said.

The leaders committed to enhancing cooperation on climate ambition, decarbonization, and clean energy, and work together to have tangible and meaningful outcomes from the 28th Session of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties. (ANI)

India, UAE Sign MoUs To Promote Use Of Local Currencies For Cross-Border Transactions

By LokMarg 15th July 2023

Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday signed two MoUs for the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions and cooperation for interlinking their payment and messaging systems.

Two Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.
The agreements aimed at facilitating seamless cross border transactions and payments, and fostering greater economic cooperation between India and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) signed two MoUs for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies- the Indian rupee (INR) and the UAE Dirham (AED) for cross-border transactions; and cooperation for interlinking their payment and messaging systems,” RBI official release said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This is a very important aspect of India-UAE cooperation. It paves the way for enhanced economic collaboration and will make international financial interactions simpler.”

The MoUs were signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das and the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE, Khaled Mohamed Balama.

The MoUs were exchanged between the two Governors, in the august presence of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.

“The MoU on establishing a framework for the use of local currencies for transactions between India and UAE, aims to put in place a Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS) to promote the use of INR and AED bilaterally,” it said.

The MoU also covers all current account transactions and permitted capital account transactions. Creation of the LCSS would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-AED foreign exchange market.

“This arrangement would also promote investments and remittances between the two countries. Use of local currencies would optimise transaction costs and settlement time for transactions, including for remittances from Indians residing in UAE,” the release added.

Under the MOU on ‘Payments and Messaging Systems’, the two central banks agreed to cooperate on linking their Fast Payment Systems (FPSs) – Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India with Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of UAE; linking the respective Card Switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH); and exploring the linking of payments messaging systems i.e., Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) of India with the messaging system in the UAE.

The UPI-IPP linkage will enable the users in either country to make fast, convenient, safe, and cost-effective cross-border funds transfers. The linking of Card Switches will facilitate the mutual acceptance of domestic cards and processing of card transactions. The linkage of messaging systems is aimed to facilitate bilateral financial messaging between the two countries. (ANI)

Modi To Visit UAE On July 15

By LokMarg 12th July 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach United Arab Emirates (UAE) on July 15 and meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The PM would be given a ceremonial welcome, after which several bilateral talks and other events will be organized in honour of the Prime Minister’s visit, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.

“After concluding his visit to France, the Prime Minister would depart for UAE and reach there on the fifteenth of July where he will meet His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi. To be followed by a ceremonial welcome, bilateral talks and other events organized in honour of prime minister’s visit to UAE,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said while addressing a press conference on Wednesday.
Kwatra said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayadal Nayan last met in June in Abu Dhabi when the PM visited UAE while on his return from the G7 summit in Munich.

“They have since also met on many virtual platforms, including in July last year, during the I2U2 (India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States) summit,” the Foreign Secretary said.

Kwatra further mentioned that in February 2022, during the virtual summit, the comprehensive economic partnership agreement between India and UAE was signed. A joint vision statement was also issued at that time.

“We have seen a significant jump, qualitative enhancement, in the substance of our engagement across the whole range of areas since the signing of the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement). And the partnership has continued to grow from strength to strength. This is particularly reflected in the strong economic exchanges, both on the trade side, but also on the investment side, people-to-people ties and also convergence on a range of regional and international issues,” Kwatra added.

“UAE is also a special invitee during India’s G20 presidency summit to be held in September this year. Indian and UAE are also cooperating very closely on COP28, which will be held in UAE towards the end of this year,” Foriegn Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.

“Prime Minister’s visit to UAE provides a useful opportunity for us to review this important partnership and inject further momentum across the whole range of areas that we cooperated,” he added.

Further speaking on the economic ties between India and UAE, Kwatra informed that the bilateral trade is at 85 billion dollars between India and UAE. Which made UAE India’s third-largest trading partner last year. India’s second-largest export destination is UAE.

“Bilateral trade is currently at a very strong 85 billion dollars between India and UAE, making UAE India’s third largest trading partner last year and India’s second-largest export destination is UAE. Also, very substantial large sums of FTI (Foreign Trade Investments) flows from UAE have taken place to India, making UAE the fourth largest overall investor in India,” Kwatra informed during the press briefing.

Kwatra further informed that the UAE and India are also very strong partners in the field of energy security. Several new areas of partnership and engagement have also registered strong progress including in the field of renewables, health, food security, SNT, education, fintech, and defence and security.

“The Indian diaspora presents very strong and robust numbers in UAE, about 3.5 billion,” he said.

Kwatra credited the historical people-to-people ties between India and UAE to remain a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and UAE.

Kwatra said that in the last few years, a significant transformation has taken place in India-UAE relations and central driver of this has been the vision of the two leaders, the President of the UAE and the Prime Minister of India.

“Both of them, of course, also enjoy an excellent personal rapport, which is reflected in their very frequent engagements,” Kwatra added.

Prime Minister will depart for the UAE after concluding his visit to France.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit France later this week to attend this year’s Bastille Day parade as the guest of honour, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron.

The Bastille Day Parade will witness a 269-member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces marching alongside their French partners.

The Fete Nationale Francaise is celebrated on July 14 or the National Day in France. It is also known as Bastille Day as this day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789 during the French Revolution.

The Indian military contingent would also be part of the marching contingent on Bastille Day, alongside their French counterparts to mark this important milestone.

Notably, PM Modi’s visit will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the “strategic partnership” between France and India.

PM Modi’s visit is expected to herald the next phase in the India-France Strategic Partnership by setting new and ambitious goals for our strategic, cultural, scientific, academic, and economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries, an official statement released by the Indian Embassy in France said earlier. (ANI)