India, UAE ask countries to cut 'support' to militant groups

Deciding to expand cooperation in combating terrorism, India and the UAE today came out strongly against use of terror as an "instrument of state policy" and asked countries to cut "all support" to militant groups operating from their soil.
Without naming any country, both sides, in a joint statement, also condemned use of religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism while expressing concern over radicalisation and religious intolerance. They said nations must control activities of 'non-state actors'.
On trade, a major aspect of bilateral ties, the statement, issued a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held extensive talks, said UAE will ramp up investment in diverse sectors in India including railways, petroleum, roads, ports and shipping.

It said both leaders looked forward to the early signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement to further expand ties and resolved to build on the momentum by pursuing collaboration in trade and investment, security and defence, energy and climate change among others.
The talks produced "far reaching cooperation", Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said.
The two sides also agreed to bolster strategic ties by continuing to work closely on a range of security issues, particularly on counter-terrorism, maritime security, and cyber-security, the statement said.

The two countries have signed nine pacts covering a range of key areas. UAE Ambassador Ahmed Al Banna, earlier this week, had said 16 MoUs, including one on cooperation in civil nuclear energy may be signed. No nuclear pact was signed and there was no indication why the figure for MoUs given by the envoy did not materialise. When asked, sources only referred to the inter-agency processes without elaborating.

On dealing with terrorism, the statement said they deplored the "use of double standards" in addressing the challenge and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism both at the bilateral level and within the multilateral system.
"They reiterated their condemnation for efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries, or to use terrorism as instrument of state policy.
The threat posed by ISIS also figured in talks yesterday.
The statement said the two sides agreed to work together towards the adoption of India's proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations.

"The two sides noted that the Indian and UAE models act as strong bulwarks against the forces of extremism and radicalism," it said.
In the area of defence cooperation, the two sides renewed their commitment to strengthening the existing cooperation in training, joint exercises, and participation in defence exhibitions, as well as in identifying opportunities to cooperate on production of defence equipment in India.
"The two leaders agreed to enhance cooperation to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean region, which is vital for the security and prosperity of both countries," the statement said.
Modi also thanked the Crown Prince for the UAE's support for India's candidature for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council.

On the trade front, the two sides examined various tariff and non-tariff barriers, and agreed to enhance the trade of priority commodities and expand the access of goods and services in both markets.
Asked to respond on comments by UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash that structural reforms and an attractive climate for investment was required in India, the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said India is now the most open country for FDI. He, at the at same time, acknowledged that there is scope for improvement.
"As far as we are concerned, Prime Minister Modi has said this on many occasions that India is now most open country for FDI.

"You have seen very well the number of sectors in which we have liberalised FDI, the number of sectors which have been opened up virtually for 100 per cent investment. So we believe that a very conducive environment exists already for investment by foreign sovereign funds," said the Spokesperson.
The joint statement said Modi invited the UAE to be a partner in India's growth story, and to participate in projects creating mega industrial manufacturing corridors, including the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor as well as the Digital India and Startup India programmes.
Talking about various initiatives, including signing of an MoU to facilitate investment by UAE companies in India's infrastructure sector, the two sides described them as important steps towards reaching the USD 75 billion target for UAE's investments in India.

Agreeing to expand ties in the oil sector, they welcomed the intention of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) to sign an MoU on establishing a Strategic Petroleum Reserve in India, and resolved to conclude negotiations in the near future.