India and the UAE have signed a series of landmark agreements covering strategic petroleum reserves, long-term LPG supply, and defence cooperation. The pacts were inked following high-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi held amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. The UAE has also pledged investments worth 5 billion US dollars in India. Prime Minister Modi reached UAE yesterday on first leg of his five-nation tour.

One of the pacts include strategic collaboration agreement signed between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to strengthen India’s energy security, including cooperation in petroleum reserves and possible collaboration on liquid natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage facilities. The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, the agreement will enhance the UAE’s participation in India’s strategic petroleum reserves to 30 million barrels and set up strategic gas reserves in India. The two sides also signed a separate strategic collaboration pact on LPG, which is supposed to ensure long-term supply of the cooking fuel widely used in India.

India and the UAE also signed a framework for a strategic defence partnership which focuses on defence industrial collaboration, technology sharing, innovation and regional security cooperation. Under the framework, the two countries are set to explore joint development of military hardware besides boosting cooperation in a number of other crucial areas. During their talks, Prime Minister Modi and President Zayed Al Nahyan also exchanged views on the West Asia crisis. In his remarks, Mr Modi strongly condemned recent attacks on UAE. He reaffirmed India’s solidarity with the leadership and people of the Emirates.