External affairs minister S Jaishankar Monday said India and the UAE will play a significant role in re-shaping the global order.
In his address at the inauguration of the India Global Forum UAE 2022, Jaishankar said India and the Gulf state are two ancient civilisations who have co-existed for centuries and are now re-discovering old ties.
Jaishankar pointed out that apart from burgeoning bilateral trade and an increasingly bigger share in the global economy, India and the UAE are also playing a big role in the geopolitics of the Middle East with their involvement in the I2U2 group.
“I would cite the establishment of the I2U2 mechanism comprising Israel, the UAE and the US as yet another example of how the changed relations between India and the UAE is beginning a broader ripple impact. The fact that it is fitting into transformations that are independently underway in this region and often helping to take the direction of that transformation forward,” Jaishankar said.
“So the picture I see today of India and the UAE is two nations who have known each other a long time but have re-discovered the relationship in the last decade. We are using the relationship today to not just survive the changing world but to shape it,” he added.
“The UAE is today India’s third largest trade partner. It is our second largest export market. More Indian citizens live in UAE than in any other country abroad. So whether we are talking people, or whether we are talking business, UAE has a particular salience in our perspectives.
“So when I look at the return of history and the relationships which will go forward in the coming days, I certainly would rank the India-UAE relationship very high in that.”