Abu Dhabi Crown Prince on a 3-day visit to India Wednesday February 10,2016

 

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is on a three-day visit to India, was on Wednesday  February 10,2016 accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

"A day of engagements for the crown prince begins with ceremonial honours at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

On Wednesday  February 10,2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke protocol as he personally received the crown prince on his arrival in New Delhi.

 

PM Modi welcomed Sheikh Mohamed with a warm embrace as the latter alighted from his aircraft at the Palam Technical Area in New Delhi.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on Sheikh Mohamed soon after his arrival on Wednesday.

A slew of agreements, including on defence equipment manufacturing and civil nuclear cooperation, are likely to be signed between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the crown prince's visit.

After the India-UAE relationship was elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership during PM Modi's visit to the UAE in August last year, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years, there is focus on new areas of cooperation like defence production in India, security, counter-terrorism, in nuclear and space sector, and in the energy sector.

The welfare of the expatriate Indians in the UAE, numbering around 2.6 million, is also likely to come up for discussion.

The crown prince is being accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising cabinet ministers, senior officials and business leaders.

Delegation-level talks between PM Modi and Sheikh Mohamed are scheduled to be held today evening following which the agreements will be signed.

On Friday, the crown prince will leave for Mumbai where he will visit the Bombay Stock Exchange and meet Indian business leaders

Note

The United Arab Emirates(UAE) is a country located in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf bordering Oman to the east andSaudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran

The constituent emirates are -

• Abu Dhabi(which serves as the capital)
• Ajman
• Dubai
• Fujairah
• Ras al Khaimah
• Sharjah and
• Umm al Quwain 

Each emirate is governed by an absolute monarch; together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council

One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates(UAE)

Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and

Arabic is the official language, although English is widely used.