The Gulf is central to India's energy, diaspora and investment interests. Discuss the opportunities and challenges in India–UAE ties.

President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's 1976 State visit rested on Non-Aligned solidarity. Since then, India–UAE ties have grown into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and bilateral trade crossed USD 100.06 billion in FY 2024–25 [1]. The UAE is now central to India's Gulf interests, but the partnership also has real points of friction.

Opportunities

• Trade: Under the CEPA, in force since May 2022, merchandise trade nearly doubled, from USD 43.3 bn in FY21 to USD 83.7 bn in FY24. India's non-oil exports reached USD 27.4 bn [2].
• Energy security: ADNOC has stored crude in India's Mangalore strategic petroleum reserve [3]. The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's 2024 visit brought long-term LNG supply deals and Urja Bharat's onshore oil concession, the first in the UAE for an Indian company [4].
• Investment: The UAE is India's seventh-largest FDI source, with about USD 19 bn invested between 2000 and 2024. The Bilateral Investment Treaty, in force since August 2024, promises non-discrimination and dispute settlement by arbitration [5].
• Diaspora and fintech: The UPI–AANI link lets over 3 million Indians in the UAE send money home in real time. India has also shared its RuPay technology for the UAE's JAYWAN card [6]. The RBI–CBUAE Local Currency Settlement System lets traders bill in rupees and dirhams instead of dollars [7].

Challenges

• Quality of trade: How the gold quota (TRQ) is allocated remains a contested item at the CEPA Joint Committee [1]. Low-duty bullion imports raise headline trade without adding Indian value. This is why both sides now target USD 100 bn of non-oil, non-precious-metal trade by 2030 [1].
• Untested frameworks: The rupee–dirham settlement system's value depends on actual use. Public data on its uptake is still limited [7].
• Diaspora vulnerability: A large migrant workforce [6] is exposed to labour-market and regional shocks. Their remittances are not insulated from economic downturns in the Gulf.
• Regional volatility: Conflicts in West Asia threaten shipping lanes and energy flows. They also test India's balancing act among Gulf states, Iran and Israel.

India–UAE ties have moved from NAM solidarity to a partnership built on trade, energy, investment and people. India should use the CEPA Joint Committee to review the precious-metal concessions, expand the use of rupee–dirham settlement and UPI–AANI, and lock in long-term energy contracts. Doing so would give substance to the "new turn" that the UAE's leaders called for in 1976, in the spirit of SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).