New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a meeting with Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Defence of the UAE, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and both leaders expressed happiness on the defence cooperation through institutional mechanisms, military exercises, and the exchange of training programmes.
They acknowledged that defence cooperation needs to be scaled up to match the progress made in other areas such as trade and business, in line with the vision and determination of the two leaders – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a Defence Ministry statement said.
Moreover, they identified training exchanges as one of the key areas of defence cooperation which would enable understanding of each other’s defence ecosystems and accelerate strengthening of bilateral defence ties.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the active Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard cooperation and committed to further deepen it by formalising the same through an MoU. They were convinced that close collaboration between the defence industries should be an integral part of the bilateral cooperation.
They emphasised increasing defence industry collaboration and discussed opportunities for enhancing partnership in defence manufacturing.
The ministers also acknowledged active participation from the two sides in each other’s exhibitions and defence expos and welcomed India-UAE Defence Partnership Forum which has the potential to result in strategic joint ventures and co-production projects benefiting both countries.
They also agreed to focus on complementarities for the two countries in the Make-in-India and Make-in-Emirates initiatives.
It may be noted that the defence cooperation MoU with the UAE was signed in 2003, and an MoU on defence industry cooperation was signed in 2017. India and the UAE have strong bonds of friendship based on centuries-old cultural and economic ties.
UNI
