Indian PM may visit UAE before year-end

The Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, may be visiting the UAE before the end of the year, according to an official at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
 
“Details of the programme are being worked out. Most probably it will be scheduled before the end of 2010,”  said the official.
 
During the India-United Arab Emirates Political Consultations held on Sunday in Abu Dhabi it was agreed to intensify exchange of “high-level visits” between the two countries to consolidate the “excellent relations” at the political level.
 
Among the major issues discussed during the meeting were security cooperation between India and the UAE and the issue of prisoner transfer.
 
According to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE and India are likely to sign agreements on security cooperation and transfer of prisoners to boost their bilateral ties. “The agreement is to be signed at the ministerial level and it could well happen during the Prime Minister’s visit,” the official added.
 
The plan is for convicted Indian prisoners, provided they are not involved in financial crimes and not serving death penalty, to be sent to prisons in India to serve the sentence. The maintenance cost will be borne by the UAE. According to media reports there are about 1,300 Indians in UAE jails.
 
Indian Ambassador M K Lokesh told Emirates 24|7 that although the exact dates have not been finalised, the process ha been expedited.

The two teams also agreed to convene the Ministerial level India-UAE Joint Commission meeting at the earliest. The last meeting was held in 2007.
 
The UAE delegation was headed by Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, while the Indian delegation was led by Vijayalatha Reddy, Secretary (East) in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
 
The two sides reviewed the current state of bilateral relations and agreed to intensify exchange of high level visits between the two countries “to consolidate the excellent relations at the political level.”
 
The discussions also focused on UAE investments in the aviation, ports, telecommunications and oil and gas sectors. The Indian side proposed that the India-UAE Trade policy forum set up by the two countries to facilitate bilateral trade should be made more active. It requested more investment from the UAE in India especially in the infrastructural areas.