NEW DELHI - India and Abu Dhabi signed five agreements on Monday to cement relations in nuclear, energy and food sectors on the sidelines of talks between Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who arrived in New Delhi yesterday on an official visit held bilateral discussions with Modi.

"The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the substantial progress achieved in recent years in the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discussed opportunities to further widen and deepen the partnership in all areas of bilateral cooperation," the statement said.

They expected that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the Bilateral Investment Treaty will provide further push to strong economic and commercial partnership between the two nations. "They also underscored the need to explore new areas of untapped potential, particularly in nuclear energy, critical minerals, green hydrogen, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technologies," the statement added.

The five MoUs are on nuclear cooperation between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, agreement for long-term LNG supply between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, MoU between ADNOC and India Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL), Production Concession Agreement for Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1 between Urja Bharat and ADNOC and an MoU between government of Gujarat and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC on food parks development in India.

The nuclear cooperation agreement will "enhance cooperation in the operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants, sourcing of nuclear goods and services from India, exploring mutual investment opportunities and capacity building," the statement said.

As part of the agreement for long-term supply of one million metric tonne per annum of LNG would be supplied by ADNOC. There are long term agreements between IOCL and GAIL with ADNOC to supply 1.2 million metric tonne per annum and 0.5 million metric tonne per annum respectively. ADNOC and ISPRL MoU is meant to explore additional opportunities for crude storage in India and the renewal of existing ones.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammad also met Indian President Droupadi Murmu and discussed ways to further cement the warm, historic, and comprehensive ties between the two countries. The visiting Abu Dhabi leader is scheduled to visit Mumbai tomorrow to participate in an India-UAE Business Forum. 

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