Modi in UAE | Progress in India-UAE ties inconceivable a few years back

(Image credit: (@narendramodi/Twitter)

There is much more to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 28 than its stated purpose of paying “personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi and congratulating Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan”, his successor in both offices.

Since the return of post-COVID-19 near normalcy in the Gulf, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expended considerable energy on getting the UAE to re-hire tens of thousands of Indians who lost their jobs in countries of the region due to disruptions caused by the pandemic. Last month, these efforts were put on a firm footing when a formal institutionalised structure was created “to skill Indian youth for pursuing overseas employment opportunities as per international standards.”

Work has begun in Varanasi, Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, on setting up a Skill India International Centre to train aspirants for jobs in Dubai in logistics, port operations, and allied trades. A team from DP World, a Dubai government-owned global provider of smart, end-to-end supply chain logistics and managers of maritime and inland terminals worldwide, travelled to New Delhi to ink a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Skill Development Corporation International (NSDCI) on setting up the centre, and preparing candidates for global job markets.

To underscore the UAE’s seriousness of purpose on restoring the status quo ante which existed before COVID-19 on the numbers of Indian workforce in their country, this Gulf country’s Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, made it a point to attend the signing of the MoU along with his senior and equivalent Indian counterparts, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Rajeev Chandrasekar.

Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, who was the UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, during the pandemic-induced exodus of Indian workers had then publicly “hoped this would be a see-you-soon departure and not goodbye.” Hamli said at that time that “the UAE will continue to be a place of opportunity and tolerance for Indian migrants. The UAE’s leadership has provided assurances to India that our economy is well-poised to bounce back once the pandemic eases.”

On May 25, 2020, when COVID-19 was still raging, Modi discussed this and other ways to restore energy in bilateral ties with President Sheikh Mohamed, who was then the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Six months later, when Jaishankar visited Abu Dhabi to “convey the Prime Minister’s appreciation of the UAE leadership for taking great care of Indians during the pandemic,” he felt confident enough to publicly state that he had the brief to “discuss ways for Indian workers to resume their jobs in UAE in the post-COVID scenario.”

The skill centre in Varanasi is not the only reason for Modi to thank Abu Dhabi’s leadership during his visit. The centre is but one element in the Modi-Sheikh Mohamed vision for elevating ties with the UAE into one of India’s most important foreign policy priorities. Building on their virtual summit on February 18, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said last week that this vision covers, in addition to skill development, trade, investment, energy, including renewable energy, food security, health, culture, education and people-to-people ties.

When the pandemic struck, the UAE not only took proactive steps to deal with disruptions, it turned the crisis into an opportunity. Its leadership restructured and downsized the government and made State-owned enterprises leaner and more efficient. As a result, the UAE is no longer seeking run-of-the-mill blue-collar workers on a scale that it did before. Al Falasi told Pradhan that his country would like to develop with India a “comprehensive institutional framework to scale up skills-based cooperation, including in up-skilling of workforce, training of trainers, facilitating exchange programmes and apprenticeship engagement.”

Last month, the two ministers discussed “recognition of certificates issued by Indian Skilling Centres by the UAE and renewal of government-to-government mechanism between the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the National Qualifications Authority, of the UAE.” Also, on the table is liberalisation of the process of assessment and certification of Indian workforce to ensure their increased mobility.

Modi’s visit, although brief, will provide a shot in the arm for these processes. With a new leadership in Abu Dhabi, the early summit-level talks will provide a political push for realising the full potential of India-UAE relations. The immediate aim for India, though, is a return to the high numbers of its expatriate workforce in the emirates and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Some aspects of the bilateral relationship, however, are unlikely to be discussed in public. Defence cooperation, for example. Last year, interoperability between the two militaries broke new ground. When the new Rafale jet fighters bought by India were on their way from France, the UAE Air Force refuelled them in mid-air so that the planes could seamlessly fly non-stop to their new home bases. Last week, once again, mid-air refuelling provided by the UAE Air Force for a formation of Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets made it possible for them to complete their six-hour, non-stop ferry flight from India to Egypt to participate in a month-long Tactical Leadership Programme in Cairo.

When Modi was a on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir in April, a delegation from the UAE was there. After meeting the group, the Prime Minister said in a speech at Palli village in Samba district of the Union Territory that “the delegation is very excited about Jammu and Kashmir.” Some of what is taking place in India-UAE relations were inconceivable even a few years ago.