Abu Dhabi: The UAE on Monday came out in
strong support of India`s quest for a permanent seat in a
reformed UN Security Council, with President Sheikh Khalifa
Bin Zayed Al Nahyan telling his Indian counterpart Pratibha
Patil that this was New Delhi`s "right".
"His Highness (the UAE President) stated that UAE
would certainly support India, which had the right to be a
permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council," Secretary
(East) Latha Reddy told reporters after the "warm and
friendly" talks between the two leaders, reflecting the close
ties between the countries.
Patil was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the
Musharif Palace by her UAE counterpart on whose invitation she
arrived here last night on a five-day official visit, her
first to the Gulf region.
He later hosted a banquet in her honour.
The visit has come at a time when UAE has emerged as
India`s largest trading partner in terms of total trade
exchange in the first half of 2010, with USD 43 billion
bilateral trade and oil imports by India accounting for USD
five billion.
Seeking to boost their ties to a new level of
cooperation, the two leaders favoured cooperation in diverse
fields with Patil asking energy-rich UAE to make investments
in the upstream and downstream projects in the petroleum
sector, food processing and infrastructure areas including
Railways.
The two sides also saw regional security as an area of
enhanced cooperation.
Reddy said that Indian Home Minister has invited his
UAE counterpart to New Delhi for the signing of the agreement
on security cooperation.
President wanted the agreement to be signed as early
as possible to address issues relating to counter-terrorism
and maritime security.
There have been no irritants in bilateral relations
and Reddy said that "the talks were warm and friendly...
reflecting the close ties" between the two countires.
"Both leaders agreed to enhance the strategic
relationship by focusing on areas such as education, science
and technology, regional security and many other areas where
there is a potential for cooperation," Reddy said.
Patil and Sheikh Khalifa agreed that specific
proposals in this regard should be taken up in detail at the
forthcoming meeting in Abu Dhabi of the Joint Commission which
is headed by the Foreign Ministers.
PTI
