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Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, visited UAE on 16 and 17 August 2015 to work on India UAE relations. He was invited by the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Such an event was happening after 34 years. It helped bring a new strategic partnership between India and the UAE. As of today, it is expected to bring mutual opportunities and benefits. This meeting also led to the India-UAE joint statement for energy-related cooperation. This resulted in the Joint UAE-India Vision Statement, as per which UAE is set to support India’s energy demand.
India UAE relations
Before Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE, the news regarding energy relations had been disclosed. The PM was set to seek enhanced energy cooperation during the UAE visit for the following reason.
The UAE is OPEC’s third-biggest crude producer and is known worldwide for its richness in petroleum, oil, and other energy-related resources. On the other hand, India is the world’s third-biggest oil consumer. It meets 85% of its demand for domestic energy through imports from several countries and seeks to secure energy supplies as the prices are surging day by day.
The two nations have thus signed an economic partnership agreement that would benefit them both and strengthen India UAE relations.
The India-UAE joint statement for energy-related cooperation
Upon their leaders’ meeting, both India and UAE discussed several energy-related subjects such as lower crude imports and clean energy cooperation.
The India-UAE joint statement for energy-related cooperation stated that the UAE, being one of the major energy providers for India, shall remain committed to addressing India’s energy demand, which is growing by the day.
It also mentioned that the UAE is enthused to be India’s first international partner for investing in crude oil for India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program. UAE is going to participate and support India through various challenges.
The nation has agreed to nurture the development of strategic petroleum reserves and upstream and downstream petroleum sectors. It has also decided to assist India in collaboration with third countries to further expand India’s energy imports as per its needs.
Furthermore, the statement also mentioned that “Indian companies have steadily increased their participation across the entire UAE’s energy sector and represent some of Abu Dhabi’s key concession and exploration partners.”
The India-UAE clean energy cooperation
Along with collaborating to meet India’s energy needs, the nations are cooperating in the matter of energy transition.
The statement mentioned that UAE and India shall work further to inspect and initiate new energy collaboration opportunities. This includes new energies such as green hydrogen as well. UAE also agreed to provide secure and affordable energy supplies to India, as mentioned by the joint vision statement.
In return, India is committed to working with the UAE to make an equitable and justified transition to a future that is low-carbon and beneficial for the environment. In lieu of that, India and UAE are looking forward to establishing a joint Hydrogen Task Force that shall focus on research and production of green hydrogen.
Benefits of the India-UAE joint statement for clean energy cooperation
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., owned by the UAE, holds about 7.5 lakh mt of petroleum reserves. In this way, it is the only overseas company that can meet the large energy requirement, which rose to 4.2 million b/d in 2021. Under the India-UAE joint statement for energy-related cooperation, India is likely to benefit from lower trade costs and a larger bank of energy resources as it gears up for future demands.
This government-to-government deal is ready to supply crude through ADNOC to India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which is located in Padur and Mangalore in Karnataka. This reserve has a striking total capacity of 5.33 million mt.
Furthermore, as of 2022, the fuel prices are at an all-time high in many Indian megacities. India has already set a target to cut crude imports by 10%. The government hopes to achieve this target by increasing domestic production and giving more importance to renewable energy sources by 2025.
Conclusion
The India UAE joint statement for energy-related cooperation is beneficial to India in many ways. It was made possible by the Prime Minister’s visit to the UAE in 2015, where he discussed energy-related matters with UAE’s leader and furthered India UAE relations on a positive note.
As per the cooperation, UAE shall support India’s rising fuel and energy demands in the coming future.
