India, UAE set $200 billion trade target by 2032, sign long-term LNG deal

India and the United Arab Emirates on Monday agreed to double their bilateral trade to USD 200 billion by 2032 and deepen cooperation across areas ranging from investment and energy to defence, space, artificial intelligence and education.

The announcement was made during UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s official visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi welcomed Al Nahyan at the Delhi airport with a hug and then they travelled together in the same vehicle to the prime minister's residence, where they held talks in the restricted as well as delegation-level formats.

The two leaders reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral ties and said the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has continued to strengthen over the past ten years, according to a joint statement issued after their talks.

They welcomed the robust growth in trade and economic cooperation since the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and noted the rapid growth of bilateral trade, which reached $100 billion in FY 2024-25.

"This has been a short, but extremely substantive visit," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a media briefing after the UAE leader concluded his nearly three-and-a-half-hour visit.

The leaders decided to set an ambitious target of $200 billion by 2032, with a special focus on linking micro, small and medium enterprises through initiatives such as Bharat Mart, the Virtual Trade Corridor and Bharat-Africa Setu.

Both sides endorsed outcomes of recent high-level meetings and welcomed discussions on a potential UAE partnership in developing the Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat.

This initiative will look at the establishment of an international airport, a pilot training school, an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility, a greenfield port, a smart urban township, as well as projects related to railway connectivity and energy infrastructure, Misri added.

The leaders also welcomed the signing of a 10-year LNG supply agreement between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and ADNOC Gas for the supply of 0.5 million tonnes per annum starting 2028.

The UAE is India's second-largest supplier of LNG to India after Qatar.

India and the UAE agreed to expand cooperation in emerging areas such as space, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.

They welcomed plans for a joint initiative to boost commercialisation in the space sector and an in-principle agreement to establish a supercomputing cluster in India. The two sides will also explore cooperation in setting up data centres and the possible establishment of ‘digital embassies’ under mutually recognised sovereignty arrangements.

The two countries signed a Letter of Intent to work towards a Strategic Defence Partnership, aimed at enhancing defence industrial collaboration, innovation, training, interoperability, cyber security and counter-terrorism cooperation.

Both leaders reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, and agreed to continue cooperation under the Financial Action Task Force framework to counter terror financing.

The two sides also agreed to deepen cooperation in civil nuclear energy, including advanced reactor technologies and small modular reactors, following India’s enactment of the SHANTI law, which opens new avenues for civil nuclear collaboration.

Highlighting strong people-to-people ties, the leaders agreed to establish a ‘House of India’ in Abu Dhabi as a cultural symbol of bilateral friendship and to promote youth exchanges. They also encouraged greater academic collaboration, building on the presence of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad campuses in the UAE, and agreed to work towards integrating India’s DigiLocker with UAE platforms for academic credential verification.

The foreign secretary said the situation in Yemen, Gaza and Iran was discussed at the talks, but declined to elaborate on them.

"All of these issues were discussed between the leaders. I cannot get into the details at this stage, but yes, both leaders had the opportunity to share their views and opinions in detail on these issues," he said.

The UAE conveyed support for India’s BRICS chairmanship in 2026, while India backed the UAE’s co-hosting of the UN Water Conference later that year.