Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a six-day, five-nation tour on May 15 with a stopover in Abu Dhabi to meet U.A.E. President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), followed by visits to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway—for the third India-Nordic Summit—and Italy, per the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The stakes are substantial. India remains heavily dependent on Gulf hydrocarbons; the U.A.E. is now one of India’s largest trading partners, with the 2022 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement institutionalizing that relationship; and nearly 4 million Indians work in the U.A.E., meaning that disruption to regional air and maritime traffic has direct implications for the Indian diaspora. Earlier this year, the two governments signed a Strategic Defence Partnership Letter of Intent covering cooperation in defense manufacturing, cybersecurity, and counter-terrorism.
