ABU DHABI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, in a meeting that focused on bilateral ties and the security situation in the Middle East. Doval conveyed greetings from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wishes for the UAE’s continued progress and prosperity. Sheikh Mohamed asked him to relay his greetings to Modi and his wishes for further development and prosperity for India and its people.
Sheikh Mohamed and Ajit Doval meeting reflects active India-UAE strategic engagement. (Credit – WAM)
The talks centered on developments in the Middle East and what both sides described as serious implications for regional and international security and stability, along with global energy security. The meeting was attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security, placing the exchange within the UAE’s senior national security framework.
The Doval meeting came two weeks after Sheikh Mohamed received Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Abu Dhabi on April 12, another senior-level engagement that also included an exchange of greetings from Modi. In that meeting, the two sides reviewed cooperation under the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, while also discussing Middle East developments, maritime security, energy supplies and the global economy.
UAE and India strengthen security dialogue
The latest Abu Dhabi talks also fit into a broader sequence of top-level India-UAE contacts this year. During Sheikh Mohamed’s official visit to India on January 19, he and Modi reviewed the full scope of bilateral cooperation and said the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership had continued to strengthen over the past decade. The two leaders said bilateral trade had reached $100 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year and set a target of $200 billion by 2032.
That January visit produced agreements that added economic and strategic weight to the relationship. The two sides welcomed a 10-year liquefied natural gas supply agreement under which ADNOC Gas will deliver 0.5 million tonnes a year to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited beginning in 2028. They also advanced a Letter of Intent on a Strategic Defence Partnership, while reaffirming cooperation across investment, food security, technology and other priority sectors.
Economic and regional context
Officials from both countries had already laid groundwork for the January summit through earlier institutional channels, including the 13th High-Level Task Force on Investments in September 2025 and the 16th India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting and fifth Strategic Dialogue in December 2025. Those forums covered trade, investment and sectoral cooperation, giving additional structure to a relationship that has increasingly combined economic, diplomatic and security coordination.
Sunday’s meeting with Doval kept that pattern in place while narrowing the immediate focus to regional security and energy concerns at a time of continued instability in the Middle East. With the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security present, the Abu Dhabi talks added another senior contact to a year already marked by frequent high-level India-UAE engagement on trade, diplomacy and security. – By Content Syndication Services.