India doubles down on the United Arab Emirates

On May 15, 2026, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit in the United Arab Emirates at the start of a five-day, five-country tour that also took him to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. This visit to Abu Dhabi took place at short notice and highlights the growing strategic importance of the Emirates for India.

The visit comes as BRICS foreign ministers are meeting in India. This meeting produced no joint statement due to differences and strong opposition exchange between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Emirati Deputy Foreign Minister Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar. Modi visited the UAE even as the country faced continued Iranian attacks, despite the ceasefire, and his decision to visit at such a sensitive time sent a strong message of support and solidarity from New Delhi with Abu Dhabi.

Reflecting the importance that the UAE attaches to this partnership, the Emirati F-16 fighter jets escort Modi’s plane as it enters Emirati airspace. President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan personally received him at the airport, highlighting the good nature shared by the two leaders. Modi hugged him and repeatedly called him “brother” during the visit, a rare gesture he reserves for only a few leaders. Before 2015, no Indian prime minister had visit in the UAE for more than three decades, but over the past decade relations have transformed.

Although the visit only lasted about two hours, it was substantial. The signed agreements made the visit futuristic, strategic and development oriented. Relations between India and the Emirates have extended across several sectors. Among the many agreements signed, one of the most important is a strategic defense cooperation framework, which concentrates on “defense industrial collaboration and cooperation in innovation and advanced technologies, training, exercises, maritime security, cyber defense, secure communications and information exchange.”

This agreement elevates bilateral ties from transactional procurement to more structured industrial and operational collaboration and highlights the growing military and security partnership. It is also favors development of joint capabilities and interoperability, aligned with India’s broader objectives in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region. The agreement makes the partnership futuristic by highlighting the priorities and direction of cooperation in the coming years. The agreement relies on a January 2026 letter of intent signed during Ben Zayed’s visit to India.

Another important agreement sign concerns strategic oil reserves and the supply of liquefied natural gas. The official press release mentioned “a potential ADNOC [Abu Dhabi National Oil Company] storage of crude oil in India’s strategic oil reserves, up to 30 million barrels. It also refers to “potential storage of crude oil in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, to form part of India’s strategic petroleum reserve” and “potential collaboration in liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas storage facilities in India.” State-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed the agreement.

This could prove to be a historic deal. This will help strengthen India’s energy security, supply resilience and strategic flexibility, especially as India relies heavily on imported energy supplies. This arrangement could significantly increase India’s strategic crude reserve capacity. The Emirates also announcement plans to invest nearly $500 billion in different sectors, once again strengthening the depth of the partnership and future priorities of bilateral cooperation.

The nature of these agreements clearly shows that Abu Dhabi views India is a long-term strategic and development partner and seeks to reduce its vulnerabilities in a volatile Middle East through deeper cooperation with New Delhi.

For New Delhi too, a close partnership with Abu Dhabi offers greater strategic options and creates opportunities for India to play a larger and more active role in the region. New Delhi is no longer a distant power in the Middle East. India is shedding its traditional defensive diplomatic posture and becoming an active stakeholder who can itself influence outcomes.