India and the UAE are forging close cooperation in defence, counterterrorism, and artificial intelligence under the BRICS umbrella, an academic has said.
The comments of Dr. Muddassir Quamar, a professor of international relations, specialising in Middle East affairs, at India's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi come amid Emirati President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's official visit to the South Asian sovereign state.
Nahyan met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Subsequently, the two countries issued a joint statement, in which India praised the UAE's enrollment in BRICS.
India-UAE Close Partners in Multiple Fields
Against this backdrop, Quamar pointed out that India and the UAE were close strategic partners who have shared interests and worldview on numerous regional and international issues, economic growth, regional security, and stability.
"Among other issues, India and UAE are working to develop closer cooperation in counterterrorism, defence production, space, and new and emerging areas such as AI and cyber," the JNU professor told Sputnik India.
Besides, Quamar underlined that the UAE's joining of BRICS strengthens it as a multilateral organisation that can prove critical for setting global norms on various important issues, including financial governance.
New Delhi-Abu Dhabi Trade Set to Breach $100 Billion Barrier
Interestingly, UAE is India's third largest trading partner behind the US and China, with annual trade between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi set to touch the $100 billion mark this year.
"Bilateral trade has seen a notable increase under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)," Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this week.
Also, New Delhi and Abu Dhabi have taken various initiatives to carry out trade in national currencies, as they aim to make a dent in the American dollar's dominance in the global exchange market.
With the UAE hosting nearly four million Indian expats, who send billions of dollars in remittances, the West Asian monarchy plays an important role in the economic growth of the world's largest democratic nation.
And Quamar asserted that "Asia today is the nerve centre of the international economy" and hence, the UAE and India economic partnership would only flourish, with cooperation expanding to newer areas as part of BRICS.