NewsGate Press Network

The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Zayed paid a very short 3-hour visit to Delhi on Monday the 19th of January 2026 and set an ambitious target of USD 200 bn trade between the two countries to be achieved by the year 2032.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi who broke the protocol went personally to Delhi airport and received UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Both India and UAE signed a long-term agreement for the supply of 0.5 million metric tonnes of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) annually.

The UAE is India’s second-largest supplier of LNG to India after Qatar.

Artificial Intelligence was identified as a priority area of cooperation and it was decided to collaborate on setting up a supercomputing cluster in India with the UAE partnership.

Modi who welcomed the UAE President then travelled together in the same vehicle to the official PM residence, where they held talks in the restricted as well as delegation-level formats.

“This has been a short, but extremely substantive visit,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed reporters soon after the conclusion of a strategically important visit that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours.

It is to be noted that this visit of Sheikh Zayaed came-in amid increasing tensions in the West Asia and trade disruptions on a global scale caused by Donald Trump’s policy on tariffs.

Both the UAE and India decided to explore a partnership in advanced nuclear technologies, including development of large nuclear reactors and small modular reactors, as well as cooperation in advanced reactor systems and nuclear power plant operations, Foreign Secretary said.

Vikram Misri added that the situation in Yemen, Gaza and Iran was discussed at the talks but declined to elaborate.

“All of these issues were discussed between the leaders. I cannot get into the details at this stage, but yes, both leaders had the opportunity to share their views and opinions in detail on these issues,” he said.

Misri said Modi and Al Nahyan unequivocally condemned cross-border terrorism and held that the perpetrators, supporters and financiers of all acts of terrorism must be brought to justice.

The UAE president expressed his support for the success of India’s chairmanship of the BRICS grouping this year.

There has been a significant upswing in bilateral trade and people-to-people ties after New Delhi and Abu Dhabi inked an ambitious comprehensive economic partnership agreement in 2022.

The UAE president was seen off at the airport by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.