Abdullah, Kumaraswamy discuss areas of cooperation
Minister visits Indian Space Research Organisation in Bengaluru
As part of his official visit to India, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and his delegation met H.D. Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, yesterday.
The meeting saw discussions on friendship and cooperation ties in the areas of the economy, commerce, investment, culture, education, health care, space and energy between the UAE and Karnataka. Shaikh Abdullah highlighted the UAE’s keenness to enhance its bilateral relations and cooperation with the State of Karnataka, in light of the excellent ties with India.
Kumaraswamy welcomed Shaikh Abdullah and expressed his country’s desire to further strengthen its ties with the UAE. The meeting was attended by Dr Ahmad Bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, Cabinet Member and Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency; Dr Ahmad Abdul Rahman Al Banna, UAE Ambassador to India, and Jamal Hussain Al Za’abi, UAE Consul-General in Kerala.
Meanwhile, Shaikh Abdullah visited the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, in Bengaluru which maintains one of the largest fleets of communication satellites, INSAT, and remote sensing, IRS, satellites.
Shaikh Abdullah was briefed by the ISRO officials on the programmes of the agency, which was launched in the 1960s, and its notable achievements, including the launching of the first indigenously developed satellite, Aryabhata, on 19th April, 1975, and the successful placing of Rohini satellite in orbit in 1980 onboard the Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-3. Shaikh Abdullah emphasised the importance of cooperation on space programmes between the UAE and India, especially after the signing of an MoU between the UAE Space Agency and ISRO for cooperation on peaceful exploration of space.
Shaikh Abdullah also visited the Centre for Nanoscience and Engineering, at IISc in Bengaluru. Shaikh Abdullah and his accompanying delegation learnt about the centre’s current research topics including, but not limited to Nano electronics, MEMS/ NEMS, nano materials and devices, photonics, nano-biotechnology, solar cells and computational nano-engineering.