NEW DELHI (MNN); India on Monday signed a $3 billion agreement to import liquefied natural gas from the United Arab Emirates, making India the UAE’s largest LNG customer, as leaders of both countries held talks to expand trade and defence cooperation.
The agreement was finalised during a brief two-hour visit to India by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the talks, both sides pledged to double bilateral trade to $200 billion within six years and move towards a strategic defence partnership.
Under the deal, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC Gas will supply 0.5 million metric tonnes of LNG annually to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation for a period of 10 years. ADNOC Gas said the latest agreement raised the total value of its contracts with India to more than $20 billion.
The company said India had now become the UAE’s largest customer and a key pillar of ADNOC Gas’s LNG strategy.
The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner. Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by a high-level delegation that included the UAE’s defence and foreign ministers.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said both sides had signed a letter of intent to work towards establishing a strategic defence partnership. He clarified that the move did not imply India’s involvement in regional conflicts.
He said defence and security cooperation with a regional country did not necessarily mean participation in regional disputes.
The development comes amid evolving regional dynamics, with Pakistan having signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia last year and discussions under way for a potential defence framework involving Pakistan, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia.
