Ties with UAE yet to reach full potential says Indian foreign minister

S Jaishankar hails scope for collaboration and positive impact of Abraham Accords

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - November 25, 2020: HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces (R) meets with HE SubrahmanyaShow more

India's relations with the UAE have the potential to grow much further, particularly in areas such as digital technology and health security that have come to the fore amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said during a visit to the Emirates this week.

The UAE's importance as a logistics hub for India and other Asian economies is also set to grow as a result of the Abraham Accords normalising ties with Israel, Mr Jaishankar said.

"There are a lot of areas, which have not realised the full potential," the minister told the state news agency Wam in an interview on Thursday.

"As you get to know each other better and work more together, the potential keeps growing," he said citing energy sector as an example. "Ten or 15 years ago, we would have said, ‘You are the supplier, and we are the purchaser.’ Today, we have reimagined that energy relationship in a very different, more collaborative way."

Mr Jaishankar, who had meetings with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, said the Covid-19 pandemic had also changed the way in which countries viewed health security.

In the past, national and global security was associated with threats of violence or attacks from terrorist organisations, but today, along with food security and financial security, health security is going to be a new domain, the foreign minister said.

A country like the UAE, with its imagination, networking and digital strengths, has a big role to play in health security, Mr Jaishankar told Wam.

"I am particularly impressed by the UAE and others in the region because they have taken such good care of people – their own people and expatriates."

He thanked the government for "looking after" his compatriots in the UAE, home to the largest Indian expatriate population in the world, during the pandemic. "I came to the Gulf primarily to express to their leadership, especially that of the UAE, a very profound gratitude for the manner in which they have looked after the Indian community during the period," he said.

Touching on the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, Mr Jaishankar said they not  only created economic and logistical opportunities for the region and beyond but also opened a path for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Noting that India had diplomatic relations with Israel while also being supportive of the Palestinian cause, he said: "It is only those who have relations with Israel are in a position to go and tell them what we think, that something you need to do. I think it will change many things."

Mr Jaishankar, a career diplomat who was appointed foreign minister last year, said he was optimistic that US relations with India would remain strong under a Joe Biden administration.

"They are all people we know. President-elect had visited India when he was vice president in the Obama administration. We also know him and his senatorial incarnation. He was very, very supportive to us for the India-US nuclear deal," he said.

"Prospective secretary of state Antony Blinken again is a very good friend of mine and was my counterpart when I was foreign secretary. So, we know each other very, very well and worked very closely."