World

India, UAE sign $3bln LNG deal, agree to boost trade and defence ties at leaders’ meeting

ADNOC Gas signs 10-year LNG deal with India’s HPCL.

India signed a $3 billion deal on Monday ⁠to buy liquefied natural gas from the United Arab Emirates, making it the UAE’s top customer, as the leaders ⁠of both ‌countries held talks to strengthen trade and defence ties.

The agreement was signed during a very brief two-hour visit to India by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al ⁠Nahyan for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They pledged to double bilateral trade to $200 billion in six years and form a strategic defence partnership.

Abu Dhabi state firm ADNOC Gas will supply 0.5 million metric tons of LNG a year to India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp for 10 ⁠years, the companies said.

ADNOC Gas said ​the agreement brings the total value of its contracts with India to over $20 billion.

“India is now the UAE’s largest customer ‍and a very important part of ADNOC Gas’ LNG strategy,” the company said.

The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner ​and Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by a government delegation that included his defence and foreign ministers. The two sides signed a letter of intent to work towards forming a strategic defence partnership, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters.

India’s arch-rival neighbour Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year, and last week a Pakistani minister announced the preparation of a three-way draft defence agreement between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, after being close allies for years, have increasingly diverged over regional policy, with their rift exposed in Yemen, and they have also had disagreements over oil output.

Misri, ⁠however, said that the signing of the letter of intent with ‌the UAE does not mean that India will get involved in regional conflicts.

“Our involvement on the defence and security front with a country from the region does not necessarily lead to the conclusion ‌that we will ⁠get involved in particular ways in the conflicts of the region,” he said.

© ZAWYA

GLOBAL BUSINESS AND FINANCE MAGAZINE

Recent Posts

When trade sanctions increase the target’s trade

Data show that trade sanctions reduce commerce between the countries imposing them and their targets.…

1 day ago

Competition or collusion: Entry decisions in the Swedish pharmaceutical market

Many countries have adopted different price regulations to contain pharmaceutical prices, even in markets exposed…

1 day ago

Digitalisation and credit markets: Evidence from eInvoicing

Governments around the world are increasingly mandating the digitalisation of business records, yet little is…

1 day ago

Why Europe needs Eurobonds

The 2024 reform of the EU fiscal framework makes fiscal adjustment more country-specific and less…

1 day ago

Why more information can make macroeconomic expectations less accurate: Global evidence from 47 countries

Households do not simply choose how much macroeconomic information to acquire; they choose among sources…

1 day ago

Small and stuck: Why European firms can’t scale

In 2008, the US stock market was worth $3 trillion more than the combined European…

1 day ago