India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 9 September signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for civil nuclear cooperation.
- The deal was signed between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and the ENEC (Emirates Nuclear Energy Company)-led Barakah Nuclear Power Plant Operations and Maintenance.
- The signing took place during the Indian visit of Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
- India had also signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with France, the United States, Russia, Namibia, Canada, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, Australia, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
Five agreements
- Apart from the nuclear cooperation-related MoU, India and UAE also signed an MoU for long-term LNG supply between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
- A third agreement between ADNOC and India Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) was also one of the outcomes during the visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
- The 5th MoU was between the Government of Gujarat and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC (ADQ) on food parks development in India.
- India and the UAE are part of the I2U2 grouping that includes Israel and the United States under which food parks in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were envisaged. The food parks-related MoU in Gujarat is being viewed as an extension of that grouping.
- Both countries signed the CEPA in February 2022 and a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) System in July 2023 to promote the use of Indian Rupee and AED (United Arab Emirates Dirham) for cross-border transactions.
