Crown Prince starts visit to India
Sheikh Mohammed guest of honour for national celebration
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed today begins a landmark, three-day state visit to India.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces will celebrate the centuries-old links between the two countries as special guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations. And a UAE Armed Forces con- tingent will march with Indian troops for the military extravaganza at the main celebration. Sheikh Mohammed will be accompanied by a delegation including ministers, senior officials and prominent businessmen.
The Crown Prince and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will discuss the friendly ties between their countries, matters of regional importance and opportunities for further cooperation, particularly in trade and economic relations, and foreign direct investment.
India and the UAE are expected to sign 10 agreements during Sheikh Mohammed’s visit.
They include a partnership agreement to set the tone for future talks and agreements, Indian officials say.
Other points of cooperation to be discussed are expected to include defence, intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism efforts and closing down illegal remittance channels for security.
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, last week met M J Akbar, the Indian minister of state for external affairs, to pave the way for Sheikh Mohammed’s visit.
Also last week, the Indian cabinet approved an agreement for bilateral cooperation in motorways and road transport. Sheikh Mohammed visited India in February last year, after Mr Modi came to Abu Dhabi months earlier. Yusuffali M A, chairman of the LuLu Group and a member of the delegation to Delhi, said UAE officials and businessmen would learn of rich investment opportunities India has to offer.
“Initiatives such as Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, coupled with easing of foreign direct investment norms, have made India a very lucrative market for investors the world over,” Mr Yusuffali said.
The UAE is home to an estimated 2.6 million Indian expatriates.
DUBAI // The Trucial States were viewed as the land of opportunity by Indians who followed in the footsteps of their forefathers trading spices and textiles for pearls and dates in the late 19th century.
One of the oldest Indians in the UAE, Maghanmal Pancholia, 93, said the generosity of the Rulers helped build a strong attachment that drew his countrymen here.
“In the early days, things were difficult. Then we lived without cars, electricity, roads and clean drinking water. Things became better gradually also with oil when conditions improved,” said Mr Pancholia, chairman of Arabian Trading Agency who still goes to work each morning.
“The Rulers are always interested in the population, in creating opportunities for a better life for all. The UAE has always been a place that supported business, where there are opportunities for locals and non-locals in which we can enjoy a safe, peaceful life.”
His grandfather arrived in Sharjah in 1860, followed by his father in 1895, and Mr Pancholia made Dubai his home in 1942.
After setting up a company to supply electricity to Dubai in 1957, he was later elected director of the Dubai Electricity Company formed by the emirate’s late Ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
The Sheikh also granted him a plot of land to build the Indian High School that fulfilled Mr Pancholia’s dream to give the community access to Indian education. “The Rulers showed us love even in difficult days so we knew there would be support, security and stability in this land. Now we hope for a closer friendship after prime minister Modi’s visit to the UAE and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed’s historic visit to India. It makes me very proud.”
The three-day state visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces begins today, with Sheikh Mohammed invited to be the chief guest at India’s 68th Republic Day celebrations on Thursday.
“This visit is a very good sign be- cause it will also mean stronger commercial, business and personal relations,” said Vasu Shroff, 77, chairman of the Regal Group.
“Our trading ties are so old that when I came here Indian rupees and coins were being used. Our community has grown because of the keen interest the Rulers took in the people.”
Indian currency along with gold and silver Islamic coins were in use in 1960 when Mr Shroff arrived and gradually expanded his family’s cotton business to textiles, technology and real estate. India and the UAE have been among each other’s top trading partners with bilateral trade of about US$50 billion (Dh183.5bn) in 2015 and 2016.
Cooperation in energy security, renewable energy, defence, electronics, information technology and space were discussed last week in meetings between senior
UAE and India likely to sign 10 accords during Sheikh Mohammed’s visit
ministers and top officials of the UAE and India ahead of Sheikh Mohammed’s second state visit.
At 2.6 million people, Indians are the UAE’s largest expatriate community. “I moved here for better prospects and because I regarded this as the land of opportunity,” said Taher Shams, managing director of Zulekha hospital. “Then my children were born here and we have always thought ‘we are home’.”
Compared to 20 years ago when Mr Shams travelled to India once in two years, connectivity between the two nations has encouraged more visits to family and also helped set up businesses.
The hospital, with facilities in Sharjah and Dubai, set up a project last November in Nagpur, a central Indian city and Mr Shams’s hometown.
“Better connectivity has helped our staff to travel frequently to Nagpur. The Republic Day visit is very exciting and I see wonderful times ahead.”