ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates and India on Monday held 13th UAE-India Joint Committee meeting on trade, economic and technical cooperation.

In the meeting, which was held through video conference and co-chaired by the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Indian counterpart Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, both sides reviewed the continuing growth of their cooperation.

Welcoming the participants in the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah said: "The efforts undertaken by both sides in ensuring this meeting took place in light of the current global health situation affirms the deep bonds of friendship that exist between our two countries leadership and people, as well as both sides’ keenness to enhance mutual cooperation and promote bilateral relations in various sectors of common interest."

Sheikh Abdullah underlined the strong ties between the two countries, saying: "The UAE sees in India, a friend, and a strategic partner that joins the UAE in its efforts to establishing pillars of the peace and security at the regional and international levels, as the two countries coordinate and exchange views on the most prominent geopolitical issues and developments in the region and the world, all of which are on the basis of mutual understanding and trust and an appreciation of the expected repercussions on political and economic interests for both sides."

"The UAE-India’s strategic relations have once again proven their superiority to face the outbreak of the "COVID-19" pandemic and its economic implications. The past months showed exceptional cooperation between the two sides in all priority sectors, notably civil aviation, food security, energy, and health. Indeed, this cooperation is an example to follow between partners at the regional and global levels.”

“In this context, I would like to commend the exceptional flights that have been organized to secure the safe return of the citizens of the two countries, in addition to the continued smooth flow of food commodities and medical supplies between the two sides. I would like to also commend the fruitful cooperation between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the Indian side in the field of securing energy supplies," the UAE foreign minister stated.

Sheikh Abdullah pointed out that thanks to the wise vision of its leadership and the constructive cooperation with its partners, especially the Republic of India, the UAE has managed to accomplish many remarkable achievements to combat the "COVID-19" pandemic.

He said the UAE has managed to conduct one of the largest number of tests globally, it provided humanitarian assistance to more than 108 countries, with more than a million workers in the health sector around the world. Most recently, the UAE has started the clinical trial phase of one of the potential vaccines to prevent the virus.

He also indicated that the UAE-India joint efforts have resulted in significant progress in the economic relations between the two sides. It resulted in a steady increase in the total bilateral trade volume over the past years. In particular, the bilateral total trade value has increased from around $50 billion between 2017-2018 to about $60 billion between 2018-2019 at an annual rate of 20 percent.

"Indeed, this constitutes to be a great incentive to achieve more growth in trade flows and economic cooperation in priority areas," he noted.

"I also stress that the investment relations between the two sides are no less important than the commercial relations, but, rather are complementary to them. I commend, in this regard, the legal facilities provided recently by the Indian government to UAE investments, in addition to the great progress made by the Republic of India in the ease of business report issued by the World Bank. I hope that these developments will positively and tangibly reflect on the UAE investments in India, as well as on the investment and trade flows between the two sides.

For his part, the Indian minister praised his country’s close relations of friendship and strategic cooperation with the UAE and emphasized keenness to develop them in a way that will meet aspirations of the two countries’ leaderships and benefit their peoples.

Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar congratulated Sheikh Abdullah for the two historic milestones achieved by the UAE recently: the successful launch of the ''Hope Probe'' to the Mars and the successful operation of Unit 1 of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.

He also thanked Sheikh Abdullah for the support given to the members of the Indian community as the world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. He commended the UAE’s efforts to facilitate the repatriation of the Indian residents wishing to return to their country during the pandemic.

On the COVID-19, Sheikh Abdullah and Dr. Jaishankar underscored that joint coordination and cooperation between the two friendly countries will continue - even within international organizations — to confront the repercussions of the pandemic, especially in sectors like health and medicines.

He said India is looking forward to participating in the Dubai Expo 2020, while Sheikh Abdullah wished special participation by India in the international event which will be hosted by the UAE host next year.

The foreign ministers also discussed a host of regional and international issues of common concern, including Libya and Iran, and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The Indian minister reiterated his country's welcome to the peace treaty between the UAE and the State of Israel, stressing that both countries are major strategic partners of India.

For his part, Sheikh Abdullah expressed his thanks and appreciation to Dr. Jaishankar, praising the support of the friendly Republic of India for efforts aimed at achieving security, stability, peace, and prosperity in the region. — WAM