The Hindu Business Line : UAE keen to set up joint ventures with India

INDIA and the UAE are seriously looking at initiating major joint ventures in key areas such as energy and infrastructure and fruitful discussions were held to go beyond the buyer seller relationship and forge a strong economic partnership between the two countries, the Minister for External Affairs, Mr K. Natwar Singh, said.

Mr Singh, who is in the UAE as part of his first tour some Gulf states, told press persons here that during his talks with the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Lt Gen Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the UAE Deputy Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, a lot of interest was evinced on both sides to look at some big projects and joint ventures, similar to India's ties with Oman, where a $1-billion joint venture fertiliser project is set to go on stream soon.

The UAE has expressed interest in investing in India, while Indian companies are interested in joint ventures in the hydrocarbon/ petrochemical sectors in the Gulf state, the Minister said.

The two sides have agreed to re-activate the Joint Economic Commission to make it more pro-active as there was a mutual desire to go forward quickly in the economic field, he said.

In this context, Mr Singh also referred to the $1.2-billion Indian investment in Russia and the $1-billion in Sudan in the energy field, and indicated that more investments were in the offing. There was also serious interest being shown by Myanmar and Vietnam for joint ventures in this field, he said.

Earlier in his address to prominent members of the Indian community, Mr Singh said that it was evident from his recent visits abroad that the ``graph of India was going up. There is a visible change in the attitude to India - it is not longer seen as asking and receiving.'' Mr Singh also indicated that India was ``in the midst of intensive ties with Pakistan.''

Likening the Indo-Pak ties to a marathon rather than a 100-metre dash, Mr Singh said that India was focusing on improving economic ties with Pakistan. ``We have pointed out to the Pakistani Government that we have border issues with China, but it has not prevented our improving trade ties with China, which is to the tune of $12 billion now, and is likely to touch $20 billion by 2008,'' he said.

``Our trade with Pakistan however is only $400 million. There is a lot of scope to improve in this area, even as talks continue alongside on other matters including core issues,'' he said.

Mr Singh said that Indian and Pakistani consulates would be opened soon in Karachi and Mumbai respectively, while talks are under way for launching more bus and train services, easing visa restrictions and other confidence building measures.

He stressed that India was keen to increase economic interaction with many countries including the EU, West Asia, CIS states and Africa. Mr Singh also expressed hope that India would obtain a permanent seat in the UN Security Council with veto power.

The UAE on Sunday, in a statement, expressed its support for India in its objective of obtaining permanent membership of an enlarged Security Council.

Mr Singh had earlier visited Oman, where an extradition treaty was signed between the two countries and talks were held on the progress of the fertiliser project in Sur, Oman.

The Minister is meeting heads of Indian diplomatic missions in Gulf and West Asian countries in Dubai on Tuesday to discuss regional developments and issues related to Gulf based NRIs, before returning home.

He has cancelled his visit to Bahrain on account of the tsunami tragedy that has struck India and other South Asian nations.