A bond that has raised high expectations

A reader looks forward to Sheikh Mohammed's visit to India. Other topics: car insurance, Donald Trump

A reader looks forward to Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to India. Saurabh Das / AP Photo

Your editorial A milestone in UAE-India ties (January 22) rightly pointed out the many similarities between the two countries.

Strategic partnership aside, the two nations have shared a bond for many other reasons. Imagine how we love each other’s food, how Bollywood movies are an essential part of life in both countries and how similar our culture and traditions are.

This is why Indians are not just welcome here, but they feel extremely comfortable in this country.

This is a bond that no dark forces can break.

I am happy that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has been invited as chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. May God bless both countries and may they continue to prosper.

Rajender Singh, Sharjah

The insurance conundrum

Your saving tips are exceptionally helpful, although not at all reflective of my recent experience (Your Money blog: 6 tips to help you save money on your car insurance in the UAE, January 16).

Zurich has exited this country, leaving me to find a new insurer. My car is a year older and has depreciated accordingly, although I have always carried comprehensive insurance with agency repairs to comply with warranty obligations. I don’t want GCC or off-road cover and have a clean driving record since 1983 (I’m older and female and less likely to engage in risky driving).

Nonetheless, the quotes I received were 40 per cent to 70 per cent higher than I had been paying at Zurich and all insurers refused to sell me a 12-month policy, despite the fact that I now have insurance that exceeds my registration by two months.

There was zero transparency, they refused to remove coverage I didn’t want and wouldn’t use, and increased my premium by more than Dh2,000 for agency repairs. That’s despite the fact that my driving record is completely clean, including almost 10 years in Dubai.

I hope the insurance regulator offers training to the insurance companies and standards for them to follow as these guidelines are nice, but they are neither understood nor being implemented.

Elan Fabbri, Dubai

Debate over Trump’s speech

The fact that Donald Trump's speech bore little resemblance to American reality was exactly the point (Trump's rhetoric bears little relation to American reality, January 22). When have you ever heard a president say that he is giving power back to the people?

Logan Dela F, Dubai

It was a great speech. Lifelong politicians were living a separate life from most Americans and the surprising election results bore this out.

The best government is one that doesn’t operate with an open chequebook. If the US government was a business, it would be out of business.

Mr Trump will hold people accountable for their actions, which hasn’t been the case for many years.

The writer has missed the mark and has very little understanding of US public opinion.

Frank Johansen, US

It was a great speech, short and straight, and to the point. It didn’t try to hide behind any rhetoric.

Chris Reid, Dubai

Besides a few movie lines that Mr Trump quoted almost word-for-word (that is actually true) and a bunch of marketing buzzwords, the speech didn’t have anything.

Mr Trump didn’t say anything new and it certainly didn’t help to unify the country.

It was aimed at his supporters, who still believe that a successful businessman can run America’s economy.

He said he would bring jobs back, which his rich friends initially outsourced to make more money.

The talks are over and now he has to perform. Anything he does from now will be measured against what he said.

Guenther Jahrmann, Dubai