India and UAE sign defence pacts, as Iran war tensions simmer

The United Arab Emirates and India have signed pacts on defence, energy and shipping during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Gulf state on Friday, as both countries seek to deepen their relationship amid heightened tensions between Abu Dhabi and Tehran.

The agreements were signed on Friday during a meeting between India’s Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, the latest in a series of steps to strengthen ties between the two countries.

The strategic defence partnership stipulates that both nations will deepen “defence industrial collaboration and cooperation on innovation and advanced technology, training, exercises, maritime security, cyber defence, secure communications and information exchange”, according to an official statement.

A key area of agreement was strategic petroleum reserves and the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a pact stating that any “potential storage of crude oil in Fujairah, UAE, to form part of the Indian strategic petroleum reserve”.

The meeting comes after the UAE accused Iran of targeting its eastern coast emirate of Fujairah with drones and missiles, setting an oil refinery on fire and injuring three Indian workers.

Modi condemned the strikes in a post on X and said during the meeting that he “renewed my emphasis on our condemnation of the attacks that targeted the United Arab Emirates in the strongest terms”.

There are around 4.3 million Indians living or working in the UAE, a country that has been heavily targeted in rocket and drone strikes by Iran during the war.

‘Deepen economic ties’

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said in a post on X that talks with Modi explored “measures to give new momentum to cooperation in energy, technology, and other priority sectors”.

In addition to the deals, the UAE will also invest up to $5bn to “further deepen economic ties” with India, Modi said.

India, like many countries across the world, has felt the bite of rising fuel crisis due to the US-Israeli war on Iran and the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Recently, India was forced to raise its fuel prices by 3 percent.

With 90 percent of its oil imported and roughly half passing through the Strait of Hormuz, India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, has been among the hardest hit by the resulting energy crisis.