India and the United Arab Emirates agreed on Friday a framework for a strategic defence partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi, the Indian foreign ministry said, as the two countries sought to deepen ties amid the Iran war.
The two sides also signed pacts on strategic petroleum reserves and the supply of liquefied petroleum gas. New Delhi announced UAE investments worth $5 billion, including Emirates NBD’s earlier acquisition of a 60% stake in RBL Bank for $3 billion and Abu Dhabi’s $1 billion Sammaan investment.
The defence framework covers industrial collaboration, innovation and advanced technology, training, joint exercises, maritime security, cyber defence and secure communications, the ministry said in a statement carried by Reuters.
The oil pact includes a potential expansion of ADNOC’s crude storage in India to up to 30 million barrels and explores reciprocal storage in the UAE’s Fujairah port as part of New Delhi’s strategic reserve. ADNOC managing director Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said expanded LPG supply and trading opportunities with Indian Oil Corp would also be explored.
The UAE’s decision to leave OPEC last month is expected to boost its output and benefit importers such as India. The Iran war has roiled global energy markets, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupting transportation and business across the region. UAE has separately said it would speed up construction of a new pipeline to Fujairah, after a vessel heading there was sunk earlier this week and another was boarded and redirected to Iran.
Pakistan, which has emerged as the key mediator between Washington and Tehran, last year signed a mutual defence accord with Saudi Arabia. Riyadh said last month it would provide $3 billion in additional support to help Islamabad bridge a financing gap linked to a debt repayment to the UAE.
The bilateral framework lands on the same day Trump publicly claimed Xi agreed Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz — adding a separate Gulf-energy-corridor pressure track for Sri Lanka, which is monitoring both the Trincomalee oil hub talks with India and the UAE and the Rs.720 per litre cost of CPC’s last diesel shipment.
