During the 18th BRICS summit held in New Delhi, Dr Sahitya Chaturvedi, Secretary-General of the Indian Business and Professionals Council in Dubai (IBPC Dubai), highlighted the strategic alignment between the UAE’s “We the UAE 2031” vision and India’s “Viksit Bharat @2047” roadmap. This connection is set to provide renewed momentum for enhancing economic and developmental collaboration between the UAE and India.
Strengthening Bilateral Ties
The bilateral meeting between Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India covered a wide array of issues, including defence, artificial intelligence, space, biomaterials, and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. This speaks to a model aimed at creating a shared corridor for prosperity within the BRICS framework.
Smoother Digital and Financial Corridor
Dr Chaturvedi pointed to several key initiatives that could enhance financial and economic relations between the two nations. Among these is the mechanism for currency settlement using local currencies—the UAE Dirham and the Indian Rupee. The integration of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with UAE’s ANI platform also stands out as a significant advancement.
These frameworks are expected to foster a more seamless digital and financial corridor, benefiting over 4 million Indian expatriates residing in the UAE and supporting the interests of more than 85,000 Indian companies operating in Dubai.
Opportunities for Indian Businesses
Dr Chaturvedi emphasised that these recent developments open up additional opportunities for the business community. He urged Indian companies in Dubai to leverage the growing financial and digital infrastructure between the UAE and India to bolster trade and investment, as well as expand economic partnerships between the two countries.