India-UAE Defence Cooperation enhanced through Joint Production

India and United Arab Emirates recently held a webinar to boost defence production and exports between the countries.

Highlights

The Webinar was organised by the Department of Defence Production operating under the Ministry of Defence through Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM). The webinar was organised to help India achieve its target of reaching 5 billion USD of defence exports in five years.

India-UAE

The bilateral trade between India and UAE is 53 billion USD. UAE is the third largest trading partner of India. India is the second largest export destination for UAE.

In 2018, India allowed Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation to store and export oil from the strategic petroleum reserve located at Mangalore Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Similarly India stores its oil reserves in US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Strategic Petroleum Reserves in India

The Strategic Petroleum Reserves in India are located in Mangalore (Karnataka), Chandikhol (Odisha), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

Significance of UAE

UAE is located in one of the world’s most important oil hub, the Strait of Hormuz. Thus, UAE is important to India for its oil and energy security. Over 3 million Indian diaspora is living in UAE contributing large remittances. India considers UAE as an alternate oil supplier to Iran. While US imposed sanctions on Iran, India increased its imports from UAE, Saudi Arabia.

Oil from UAE during COVID-19

In May 2020, India took advantage of low oil prices and topped up its strategic petroleum reserves. The global oil prices fell by 40% during COVID-19 times. During this time, India filled its oil storages from UAE and Saudi Arabia.

India-UAE major Oil Agreement

In 2018, India and UAE signed a historic pact under which a consortium of Indian oil companies were provided with 10% oil stake in offshore oil fields of Abu Dhabi. This concession is to extend for 40 years.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2020