PM Modi holds bilateral meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at BRICS Summit

India, UAE eye deeper ties as Modi meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince — frames the meeting around outcome (deeper ties) rather than just the event itself

PGurus Newsdesk

September 12, 2026

Trade and energy security take centre stage as Modi holds bilateral talks with the UAE Crown Prince on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit

On BRICS sidelines, PM Modi holds back-to-back bilaterals with UAE, Malaysia, Ethiopia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday, on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit. The meeting comes as India and the UAE look to build further on their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

A Newer Member Of The Bloc

The UAE joined BRICS as a full member in January 2024, alongside Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia following a year later. According to the UAE’s official news agency WAM, the membership fits the country’s broader push to widen its economic and trade partnerships and cement its role as a global hub for trade, investment and logistics — part of a wider strategy of economic openness and diversified partnerships that opens up new trade corridors and investment channels with emerging economies.

The timing lines up with the expansion of the UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) programme, under which 38 agreements have been signed since 2021, including with both India and Indonesia.

Trade And Energy Security At The Centre

The meeting reflects growing cooperation between India and the UAE, particularly around trade and energy security. India’s Ministry of External Affairs had welcomed the Crown Prince a day earlier, with MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh receiving him at the airport, and described the visit as an opportunity to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for shared prosperity.

Part Of A Packed Bilateral Day

The Abu Dhabi meeting was one of several meetings PM Modi held on Saturday — he also met Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim and Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali at Hyderabad House earlier in the day. India is hosting the summit on September 12-13 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” with the bloc’s 11 full members and 10 partner countries converging on New Delhi to discuss development, technology, trade and reforms to global institutions.

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