-Dr. Rahul Kumar, Senior Correspondent, the Asian Independent, UK-
(Asian Independent)- Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a Virtual Summit on 18. 02.2022. Hon’ble Prime Minister and His Highness the Crown Prince issued a Joint Vision Statement “Advancing the India and UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: New Frontiers, New Milestone”. Prime Minister thanked His Highness Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for taking care of the Indian community during Covid-19 pandemic. He also invited him to pay an early visit to India.
On 18 Feb,2022, Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA) between India and UAE was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his UAE counterpart Abdulla bin Touq Al-Mari at Taj Hotel, New Delhi. H.E. Dr. Ahmed Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India was also present during the signing of the agreement.
The CEPA seeks to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion in five years time. The UAE will extend zero duty access to 90 per cent of goods exported from India from the first day of implementation of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) likely to begin in May,2022. The jewellery sector is also expected to receive a fillip with a concessional import duty. The pact is likely to benefit about $26 billion worth of Indian products that are currently subjected to 5% import duty by the UAE.
India-UAE agrees on liberalized visa regime under newly inked FTA (Foreign Trade Agreement). The UAE-India CEPA is India’s first bilateral trade agreement in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
India and UAE are also now part of an economic relations focused, informally named “Middle East Quad”, in which the United States and Israel area also members. The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner and second-largest export destination, oil being the main import from the Gulf country.
