PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s current five-nation tour of United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy is one of the most critical diplomatic campaigns he has undertaken in recent times. When the world is getting embroiled in the serious energy crisis following the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict, Mr. Modi has taken upon himself to open newer avenues of energy supplies to India and also build stronger strategic ties with more countries. Of course, he has visited all these five nations previously as well. Yet, the current tour assumes a greater significance because of the peculiarity of the global situation. There is no doubt that this campaign by the PM will bring to India gains beyond normal definitions.

 

During his brief visit of just two-and-a-half hours to the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister ensured better energy supplies to India on a sustained basis, thanks to the strategic engagement he ensured with the Gulf nation. India and UAE signed several pacts of strategic importance to both -- so that the energy supply chain to India from UAE remains intact and robust. In the given global situation, the Prime Minister created a goodwill through his visit to the UAE. Equally important was the Prime Minister’s unequivocal condemnation of Iranian attacks on UAE during the ongoing conflict. He appreciated the restrained manner in which the UAE leadership responded to the Iranian attacks and refused to get drawn into the actual conflict. Even as he assured India’s contribution to bringing peace to West Asia, the Prime Minister maintained a sense of balance which is so critical to India’s overall diplomatic engagement with multiple countries across dividing lines.

 

It was obvious that India was working hard to make the PM’s UAE visit successful -- no matter his very short stay there. The Prime Minister secured energy, defence and technology deals with UAE as he discussed various issues of mutual interest with UAE President Mr. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Beyond the under-the-wraps details, what has often mattered between India and UAE is the commitment to upholding intertwined regional interests. The biggest gain of the Prime Minister’s brief visit was that he strengthened those ties that have spanned decades. India’s handling of energy crisis so far following the current Middle East conflict has been exemplary. India was the last to hike fuel prices (which happened only now) -- when most other countries had already raised their fuel price-levels. During his visit to UAE, the Prime Minister ensured that energy supply-chain to India remained properly operational. This should be considered the biggest gain of this diplomatic engagement.

 

With most countries in Middle East, India has maintained friendly relations over decades. Those connects stand on the foundation not just of economy or international realpolitik but also on the people-to-people relations. Most of those countries have countless lakhs of Indians working on various projects that boost the respective economies. Mr. Narendra Modi has nurtured those relations with much care and concern -- often making the connects stronger trough socio-cultural processes. His brief visit to UAE endorsed all those efforts and underscored the importance of improving the ties still further. Seen from those angles, this visit should be considered as very vital for mutual ties between India and UAE.