I see a lot of tolerance and acceptability in Indian culture: UAE Ambassador

United Arab Emirates' Ambassador to India Ahmed Albanna on Monday said he sees a lot of tolerance and acceptability in Indian culture and said it is a shared characteristic between the two nations.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is celebrating 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance'. In January, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had praised the UAE for declaring 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance', saying India on the other hand has been witnessing four-and-a-half years of "intolerance".

"I see a lot of similarities and a lot of characteristics that we share between our culture in the UAE and the Indian culture in reference to 'Tasamuh', in reference to tolerance and acceptability," Albanna said, when asked whether he sees 'Tasamuh' or tolerance in India.

The ambassador further said bilateral trade between the UAE and India has reached about USD 60 billion and the UAE is the third-largest trading partner to India after the US and China.

"India is the partner number one for the UAE. There are more than 3 million Indians living in the UAE," Albanna said. He was addressing a curtain-raiser press conference here on the Dubai Expo 2020.

"We are expecting around 25 million people to attend during the six months of the Expo 2020," Albannasaid.

He said the Indian pavilion in the Expo 2020 will remain under the Government of India's possession and it will be a permanent Indian pavilion in the UAE.A total of 27 sectors have been selected to showcase India's advances at the Expo, including space, pharmaceuticals and information technology.

A total of 192 countries are expected to participate in the six-month-long event beginning from October 20, 2020, till April 2021.

The UAE selected the theme 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future' for the Expo 2020.