India and UAE agree to deepen nuclear cooperation in mega defence pact
The United Arab Emirates and India agreed on Monday to deepen their defence and trade ties, with New Delhi signing a $3bn deal to purchase liquefied natural gas from the UAE, making it Abu Dhabi's largest customer.
The deal signed by the two countries included nuclear cooperation, development and deployment of "large nuclear reactors", and nuclear safety.
It was sealed during a three-hour visit to India by the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during which the two sides set a goal of doubling bilateral trade to $200bn by 2032.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan reportedly also discussed the situation in Yemen, over which Saudi Arabia’s relations with the UAE have nosedived.
Other issues discussed were the situation in Gaza and the protests in Iran.
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Shifting partnerships
The UAE-India pact comes as Turkey is lobbying to join a defence pact between Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a potential move that could create a new military bloc in the Middle East amid rising tensions in the Gulf and Iran.
Islamabad and Riyadh signed a defence agreement in September, following a destabilising Israeli strike on Hamas leaders in Doha.
Amid growing fears in the Gulf over the US’s willingness to constrain Israeli belligerence, the pact commits both nations to treat an attack on one as aggression against both.
Following a militant attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam in April, India and Pakistan were locked in a four-day confrontation, the most intense exchange between the two air forces in decades, where a number of Indian fighter jets were shot down.
Since then, Pakistan has sought to convert battlefield claims and shifting geopolitical alignments into diplomatic and commercial leverage.
Pakistan’s domestically assembled JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, and its performance against India, have been at the centre of an ambitious drive to expand defence exports.
In December, Pakistan sealed a deal worth over $4bn to sell military equipment, including warplanes jointly built with China, to General Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya. Pakistan is also on the verge of a $1.5bn deal to provide weapons and jets to Sudan, reportedly brokered by Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are also in negotiations to convert about $2bn of Saudi loans into a deal to buy JF-17 fighter jets, as Riyadh flexes its military muscle against the UAE in Yemen and Pakistan looks to seal major arms deals with Arab states.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE, after being close allies for years, have increasingly diverged over regional policy, with their rift exposed in Yemen and Sudan, where they support opposing factions.
'Message to Islamic Nato'
As Saudi Arabia and Pakistan come closer, the UAE and India's defence partnership has been termed as a "blow to Pakistan" and "a clear message to Islamic Nato" by right-wing media in India.
Network18 described the pact as "India’s counter through strategic depth" to "Pakistan’s expanding defence outreach". The network is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who is closely aligned with Modi's BJP government.
The joint statement issued by India and the UAE also cited momentum from regular exchanges between security chiefs and joint military exercises.
The statement said Modi and Mohammed bin Zayed condemned "terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism". India has accused its neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan of sponsoring cross-border attacks in Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in response to a question on whether the India-UAE strategic defence partnership could drag India into a future conflict in the Gulf, said the move is aimed at “work on concluding a framework agreement for Strategic Defence Partnership”.
“So I would really characterise it as a natural evolution from the already considerable defence cooperation between the two countries and not necessarily a response to any specific event that may have taken place in the region, or of any intent to get involved in a hypothetical future scenario in the region,” he said.
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