Govt okays India-UAE bilateral investment protection treaty

Seeking to attract investment from the Gulf region, the government today approved a bilateral investment protection treaty between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "India-UAE Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) has been approved by the Cabinet", sources said.

The decision to approve India-UAE BIPA comes within weeks of the government approving the Jet-Etihad Airways deal. Under the greement, UAE-based Etihad Airways would be investing about USD 379 million o pick up 24 percent stake in the domestic carrier. Also Read: WTO agreement to boost global growth, cut poverty, say leaders The UAE-based airlines wanted India to sign the BIPA before executing the transaction to avert the crisis witnessed in case of Etisalat's telecom investment. UAE telecom major Etisalat had to shut its operations following cancellation of several telecom licences by the Supreme Court in 2012 in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Finance Minister P Chidambaram during his visit to Dubai in May had discussed the issues related to the BIPA with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces. The bilateral trade had reached USD 75 billion in 2012-2013, bilateral investments had not matched the level of trade.