PM Narendra Modi's UAE visit: Some interesting facts

New Delhi/Abu Dhabi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 16-17. He is expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi on August 16 and will visit Dubai the next day. Here are a few interesting facts about Modi's trip:

1. Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to visit the UAE after Indira Gandhi, who visited the country in 1981.
2. The Indian community is gearing up to give Modi a momentous reception on August 17 evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium grounds that is expected to draw more than 50,000 people. The Indian Community Welfare Committee has launched a website -- www.namoindubai.ae -- for people to register for the event.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a key place of worship in UAE and known as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture, in Abu Dhabi on August 17. The mosque is the largest in the UAE and the third largest in the world. Notably, a large portion of the 2.5 million Indians in the UAE are from Bihar and many are Muslims.
4. Modi's UAE visit is expected to further boost the economic, cultural and social ties between India and the Arab country. Talks are set to focus on trade, investment and security and the Indian Diaspora.
5. India-UAE trade crossed USD 59 billion in 2014-15, making the country India's third largest trading partner after China and the US.
6. India was UAE's largest non-oil trading partner in 2014. Both countries signed a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) in 2013.
7. UAE is home to an Indian expatriate community of around 2.5 million. Indians in the UAE are the largest remitters globally, and remitted USD 12.64 billion to their home country in 2014.
8. India is the third largest source of tourists travelling to the UAE.