India and UAE finalise 10-year LNG agreement, defence partnership moves forward

India and the United Arab Emirates signed a ten-year liquefied natural gas supply agreement on 19 January. The two nations pledged to double bilateral trade to US$200 billion by 2032 while deepening defence cooperation.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randeep Jeswal stated that this agreement was one of twelve outcomes reached during talks between UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on the 19th, alongside the signing of multiple memoranda of understanding.

A joint statement issued after the talks affirmed that the two leaders ‘recognised robust and solid bilateral defence and security cooperation as a core pillar of their comprehensive strategic partnership.’

On the same day, India and the UAE also signed a letter of intent aimed at ‘finalising a strategic defence partnership agreement.’

Indian sources revealed that the leaders ‘welcomed the signing of a 10-year liquefied natural gas supply agreement between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and the gas subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, under which the latter will supply India with 500,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually starting from 2028’.

The statement further noted that the leaders ‘attached great importance to each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, upheld respect for strategic autonomy, and emphasised its significance’.