Indian PM Narendra Modi to visit UAE in February

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the UAE on February 10 and 11, and will address the sixth World Government Summit in Dubai, Khaleej Times can reveal.

The two-day official visit will see Modi visiting both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, sources close to the arrangements of the visit told the paper.

Modi will be in Abu Dhabi on February 10 and will pay tribute to the UAE martyrs at the Wahat Al Karama monument.

On February 11, the Indian PM will address a gathering of 2,000 invited guests at the Dubai Opera. He will also speak at the World Government Summit to be held in Dubai from 11 to 13.

This will be Modi's second visit to the UAE. His first visit in August 2015 -- the first ever by an Indian PM in 34 years -- was touted as a grand success and heralded a new beginning for the India-UAE bilateral relations. In 1981, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had visited the UAE.

Ahead of his first visit, Modi had described UAE as a 'valued partner'. His visit saw India and UAE strengthening cooperation in security, energy and investment through various strategic alliances.

Following Modi's visit, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016 and January 2017. A slew of high-level bilateral visits between the two countries also took place in the period that saw a renewed energy in the diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The upcoming visit by Modi is seen by many as cementing the close relationship he shares with the UAE leadership, and also furthering cooperation in diplomatic, economic and security issues.