INDIA-UAE BILATERAL DEFENCE COOPERATION 1. Bilateral defence cooperation between India and the UAE has been steadily growing in consonance with other domains of the bilateral relationship. It is steered through a Joint Defence Co-operation Committee (JDCC) at the Ministry level, with the signing of MoU on Defence Cooperation in June 2003. At Service HQ level, Service (Army, Naval and Air) Staff Talks are held annually to discuss security and defence cooperation avenues. 2. A resident Defence Advisor was posted to EoI, Abu Dhabi with effect from 04 March 2013. After the establishment of the DA’s office, bilateral defence co-operation has been strengthened further, notably in the field of training and regular exchange programmes. 3. In last 3-4 years, there has been a renewed focus on enhancement of defence engagements based on mutual respect and trust. Several high-level exchanges at the level of Service Chiefs, functional level exchanges and military education exchanges have been a regular feature of this growing ‘Defence Partnership’. Some of the recent and notable exchanges are as follows:- (a) Visit by Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi PVSM AVSM NM, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy from 20-25 Oct 24. (b) Staff Maj Gen Humaid Mohammed Al Rumaithi, Commander of the UAE Naval Forces visited India from 07-09 July 2025. (c) Staff Maj Gen Youssef Mayouf Saeed Al Halami, Commander of the UAE Land Forces visited India from 27-28 Oct 2025. (d) Staff Maj Gen Rashed Mohammed Al Shamsi, Commander of the UAE Air Force & Air Defence visited India from 28-29 Oct 2025. (e) Staff Maj Gen Ishaq Saleh Mohammed Al Balushi, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Joint Capabilities visited India in Nov 2025. (f) Staff Maj Gen Ali Saif Al Kaabi, the Commander of the UAE Presidential Guard visited India in Dec 2025. (g) Gen Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, Chief of the Army Staff visited UAE for a reciprocal visit to the UAE from 04-06 Jan 2026. 4. There has been a regular and high-level participation in each other’s defence exhibitions. While IDEX, NAVDEX, Dubai Air Show and UMEX / SIMTEX are held in the UAE, Aero India and the Defence Expo are conducted in India biennially. This is a testimony to intent of both sides to further bilateral partnership in the field of defence manufacturing. Few notable participations in Defence Exhibitions are as follows:- (a) H.E. Matar Salem Ali Al Dhaheri, Under Secretary to MoD, UAE led the UAE delegation to DEFEXPO-2022 and Aero India 2023. (b) Shri Ajay Bhatt, the hon’ble RRM led the Indian delegation to Dubai Air Show 2023. In addition to the RRM, Air Mshl R Radhish AVSM VM, AOC-in-C Training Command and Shri T Natrajan, AS (DP) also attended the event. (c) H.E. Staff Lt Gen Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, Under Secretary of Defence Affairs of the UAE visited India to attend the Aero India 2025 and as the co-chair of the 13th JDCC in July 2025. (d) Shri Sanjay Seth, the hon’ble RRM visited UAE during the Dubai Air Show 2025. He was accompanied by the Air Mshl N Tiwari, the Vice Chief of Air Staff and Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, FOC-in-C Southern Naval Command in addition to other officers from the Department of Defence Production and MoD. 5. At the Service level, Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard conducts regular bilateral and multilateral exercises with UAE with an aim to enhance interoperability and learn each other’s best practices. These are:- (a) Army. India and UAE held their first bilateral Army Exercise Desert Cyclone in India from 02-15 January 2024 and the second edition in the UAE from 18-30 Dec 2025. (b) Navy. India and UAE have been conducting bilateral maritime exercise regularly. Earlier known as Ex Zayed Talwar, the exercise has now been rechristened as Ex Gulf Waves. The previous edition was held in UAE in Oct 2024 along with the visit of the CNS, Indian Navy. In addition, UAE also participated as an ‘Observer’ in the multilateral maritime exercise Ex Milan in 2024. Apart from the exercises, Indian Navy carries out frequent port calls in the region, especially Mina Rashid in Dubai and Mina Zayed at Abu Dhabi. (c) Air Force. IAF has been regularly participating in Ex Desert Flag, the multilateral air exercises held in UAE. Last edition of Ex Desert Flag was held in the UAE in Apr-May 2025, which saw the largest ever participation of IAF in any international exercise. Similarly, UAE participated in the inaugural multilateral exercise Ex Tarang Shakti held in India in 2024 and is also planned to participate in the 2nd edition in 2026. (d) Coast Guard. In addition to the three services, Indian Coast Guard also engages with the UAE National Guards regularly in the form of table-top and maritime passage exercises during their port calls to UAE. During the 13th JDCC in New Delhi, Indian Coast Guard and the UAE National Guard Command signed a MoU on Maritime cooperation. Defence Industry Cooperation 6. There has been a renewed focus on forging partnerships and joint ventures between the defence manufacturers from both sides. Towards this, the first-ever India UAE Defence Industry Cooperation Forum was held under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, MoD, Govt of India in Sep 2024. The forum brought together industry leaders and government officials from both countries to explore opportunities for collaboration in defence manufacturing and technology. 7. The forum saw active participation from government officials, industry leaders, and defence experts from both nations, with the goal of fostering innovation, technology transfer, and joint ventures in the defence sector. Key players from the Indian defence industry, including private and public sector companies, engaged with their UAE counterparts, particularly EDGE Group and other defence companies under the EDCC, to enhance defence manufacturing capabilities and deepen strategic ties. 8. After a resounding success of the 1st edition, another Defence Partnership Forum was organised at New Delhi on the sidelines of the 13th JDCC. The event was co-chaired by the Secretary (Defence Production) from India and the Undersecretary of Defence Affairs from the UAE. 9. During his visit to the UAE for Dubai Air Show 2025, Shri Sanjay Seth, the hon’ble RRM chaired a global CEOs Round Table Conference attended by more than 70 CEOs of Indian, UAE and global defence companies. 10. On 19 Jan 2026, during the visit of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi; India and the UAE signed a Letter of Intent for finalising a Strategic Defence Partnership (SDP) framework to strengthen the defence partnership. ********** |
