India and UAE to deepen energy and strategic ties during PM Modi’s Abu Dhabi visit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Abu Dhabi this Friday as the first stop of a five-nation tour covering the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy from May 15 to 20. Energy security is expected to dominate talks, as rising tensions in West Asia continue to drive up global oil prices and strain India’s foreign exchange reserves.
The visit comes at a moment of acute geopolitical pressure, with the fragile US-Iran ceasefire under severe strain and the Strait of Hormuz closure disrupting global energy flows. PM Modi will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for their second face-to-face meeting in just five months. Their last meeting was in January 2026, when the UAE President visited New Delhi for talks spanning technology, artificial intelligence, trade, and food security, during which both sides signed several agreements and letters of intent.
Ahead of the visit, Aseem Mahajan, Additional Secretary for Gulf affairs at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, underlined the depth of the energy relationship, describing the UAE as “an important partner in our energy security.” He noted that the UAE was India’s fourth largest source of crude oil last year, meeting nearly eleven percent of its requirement.
On liquefied natural gas, he said Indian companies and ADNOC Gas have entered into long-term supply contracts for a cumulative 4.5 million tonnes per year, adding that this makes India “the biggest buyer of UAE’s LNG.” He further noted that the UAE is “the largest source of LPG for India, meeting nearly forty percent of our requirement,” and the second largest destination for India’s petroleum exports.
Mahajan also highlighted that Indian companies have invested over 1.2 billion US dollars in UAE upstream energy assets, with Bharat PetroResources Limited confirming an oil discovery in Abu Dhabi’s Onshore Block 1 in January 2026 – the first such upstream find by India in the region. The UAE, he added, is also the first country to partner with India on strategic petroleum reserves, storing over five million barrels of crude oil at ISPRL’s facility in Mangalore.
The linking of India’s UPI payments platform with the UAE’s AANI system has already transformed cross-border transactions for businesses and the Indian diaspora. The UAE remains India’s third-largest trading partner and the seventh-largest cumulative source of foreign investment over the past twenty-five years. As West Asia navigates one of its most turbulent periods in recent memory, Friday’s meeting in Abu Dhabi is being seen as an important anchor of stability and long-term strategic intent for both nations.
(DD News)
