Context

• Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (UAE) Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on September 9, 2024.
• India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for civil nuclear cooperation for the first time on September 9, 2024.

Key Highlights:

• NPCIL-ENEC Agreement: Agreement between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and ENEC (Emirates Nuclear Energy Company) regarding the 'Barakah Nuclear Power Station'.
• Barakah Nuclear Power Station: It is the first nuclear power station in the Arabian Peninsula, second in the Persian Gulf region and first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab region.

Background:

• PM Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE, 2015: During PM Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE in August 2015, the two countries also agreed to cooperate in respect of “peaceful uses of nuclear energy”, including in areas related to “security, health, agriculture and science and technology”.
• Trilateral Cooperation: On September 19, 2022, the Foreign Ministers of France, India and the United Arab Emirates met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and launched a trilateral cooperation format to promote the execution of cooperation projects in the field of energy, with a focus on solar and nuclear energy.

Other MoUs between India and UAE:

• LNG Supply: MoU on long term LNG supply was also signed between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
• Agreement between ‘ADNOC’ and ‘India Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited’ (ISPRL)
• Oorja Bharat and ADNOC Agreement: Oorja Bharat and ADNOC signed Production Concession Agreement for Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1.
• Development of Food Park: The fifth MoU was signed between Government of Gujarat and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC (ADQ) on Food Park Development in India.

• • India and UAE are part of the I2U2 group (India, Israel, United Arab Emirates and United States) comprising Israel and the United States under which food parks were conceptualised in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.