PM Modi to travel to UAE to pacify in Nupur Sharma controversy

New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the last week of this month. The Prime Minister’s Office is said to have finalised the itenary and the visit could be part of his visit to Germany, where he will be going to take part in the G7 summit.

The G7 summit is due to take place from 26 to 28 June 2022 at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps. Prime Minister Modi will address Indian diaspora in Munich, Germany at iconic Audi Dome on June 26.

The UAE visit is expected to help reaffirm India’s ties with the Gulf, particularly the UAE, amid strong reactions from the region to negative remarks by then BJP spokespersons about the Prophet. Unlike Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia did not summon Indian



envoy to raise concerns. Further both the countries welcomed the union government’s action against the BJP spokespersons who have been expelled.

High-level visits between India and UAE have been taking place routinely, and Modi shares an excellent rapport with UAE President Md Bin Zayed. The last visit by the Prime Minister to UAE was in August 2019 during which he received the UAE’s highest award, the ‘Order of Zayed’ conferred upon him by the UAE leadership.

Further, the UAE is the only country from the Gulf region to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with India which focuses on several areas from defence to investments to space to energy deals. The UAE is the second-largest export destination of India after the US.