India & UAE Signed Pacts Including India-Middle-East-Europe Corridor

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE's Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held talks in Abu Dhabi and witnessed the signing of six pacts, including one on the India-Middle East-Europe corridor and another on protecting bilateral investments.

Outcome of the visit

• An agreement of understanding (MoU) about energy collaboration would pave the way for new areas of collaboration in the field of energy, including energy security and energy trade. 
• An inter-governmental framework agreement on the India-Middle East corridor would build on previous understandings and cooperation and further India and the UAE's cooperation in fostering regional connectivity. 
• During the visit, India and UAE signed agreements to interlink their instant payment platforms UPI and AANI as well as interlink their domestic debit/credit cards RuPay and JAYWAN.
• The leaders discussed strengthening their energy partnership. They acknowledged that UAE is among the largest sources of crude and LPG, while India is now entering into long-term contracts for LNG.
• Before the visit, RITES Limited and Gujarat Maritime Board signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports Company. These agreements would help in building port infrastructure and further enhance connectivity between the two countries.

India-Middle East-Europe' Economic Corridor (IMEC)

• The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, also known as Bharat-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, is a groundbreaking initiative of cooperation on connectivity and infrastructure. 
• It involves several countries, including India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, EU, France, Italy, Germany and the US. 
• The project is part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII), which is a collaborative effort by G7 nations to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries. 
• The PGII is aimed at narrowing the infrastructure gap in developing countries and accelerating progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally. It is also considered to be a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
• The corridor will include a rail link, an electricity cable, a hydrogen pipeline and a high-speed data cable, which will enable greater trade among the involved countries, including energy products. 
• The rail link will connect shipping and rail lines from India to Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel. The project is expected to make trade between India and Europe 40% faster and to foster economic growth and political cooperation.

The IMEC consists of two corridors -

• The East Corridor starts at the Indian port of Mundra on the west coast, goes to Fujairah port and then uses the railroad to transport goods through standardized containers to the Israeli port of Haifa via Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 
• The North Corridor starts from Haifa and connects Indian goods to various ports such as Marseille in France, as well as other ports in Italy and Greece.