People keen to listen to PM Modi’s vision: Indian envoy on ‘Ahlan Modi’

The Indian ambassador to the UAE, Sunjay Sudhir, said that people are keen to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and his vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ in the ‘Ahlan Modi’ event set to be held on February 13.
During his visit to the UAE, PM Modi will address the Indian diaspora at the ‘Ahlan Modi’ event on February 13. Sanjay Sudhir said that they had to close the registration as soon as the number of people who could attend the event reached 65,000, as they could not accommodate more people.
In an interview with ANI, Sunjay Sudhir said, “The UAE is home to about 3.5 million Indians, which is the largest number of Indian nationals anywhere in the world. Wherever the Indian diaspora is, they’re always very keen to listen firsthand to Prime Minister Modi. And we can just see their enthusiasm here, because when we opened the registrations for Ahlan Modi. We had to actually close the registration as soon as the mark touched 65,000 because we could not accommodate anymore.”
“So, people are so keen to listen to the Prime Minister’s vision and his vision of Viksit Bharat’s vision of where India is going. What are the policy changes happening in India, the Amrit Kaal, as we often talk about? So there’s a lot of enthusiasm in the Indian community to listen to the leader,” he added.
Earlier in December, PM Modi launched ‘Viksit Bharat @2047: Voice of Youth’. Viksit Bharat @2047 is the vision to make India a developed nation by 2047, the 100th year of independence, according to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting press release.
The vision encompasses various aspects of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance.
Speaking about PM Modi’s upcoming visit to the UAE, he said, “Well, I think we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Our preparations are going pretty well, both on the logistics front as well as on the substantive front. It is quite an elaborate visit, if you look at it, because this visit will take the prime minister to both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. He’ll have bilateral meetings with President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, as well as with the Vice President, Ruler of Dubai, the Prime Minister, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in Dubai.”
Sunjay Sudhir stated that PM Modi will also address the World Government Summit in Dubai. He further stated that PM Modi will be addressing the Indian community in Abu Dhabi and will inaugurate BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi.
He further said, “On the substantive side, you’ll see once the visit starts that there are a lot of very significant documents that will be signed and exchanged, including some treaties, some agreements, some MoUs, and a couple of them I can share with you. One is the bilateral investment treaty; another very interesting one is an MoU on national archives, because that is something that will help us further rediscover our shared heritage, our shared history.”
The Indian envoy recalled PM Modi’s first visit to the UAE in 2015, which he stressed was the first visit of PM Modi after a gap of 34 years. He said that the ties between India and the UAE have grown very well and noted that the two nations signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022.
Asked how the upcoming visit of PM Modi will enhance bilateral ties between the two nations, he responded, “PM Modi’s visit in 2015 was the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister after a gap of 34 years. And since then, the visit, which is going to happen less than 48 hours from now, would actually be his 7th visit. So this speaks of how accelerated our relations have been in the last 19 years.”
“In 2017, we signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. And I think, in all dimensions, this relationship has grown very well. We signed the CEPA in 2022. Within less than two years of that, we are going to sign a bilateral investment treaty, and that will make the UAE the only country with which India has both a CEPA as well as a bilateral investment treaty. And then, if you look at other areas like FinTech, just about two weeks ago, the UAE launched its own Jeevan credit and debit card and that card is entirely based on India’s tried and tested robust Rupay debit and credit card stack,” he added.
He stated that the two nations, about eight months ago, started the mechanism for settling trade in Indian rupees and Dirhams. He said India and UAE are working together in various sectors.
“About eight months back, we started the mechanism for settling trade in Indian rupees and Dherams. Now, these are very milestone things–IIT, for instance–that you spoke about. So there are so many areas in which we are working together, making our first leaps in these areas,” he said.
He also spoke about the IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi project and added that it will be the first IIT campus in the Middle East. He said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in to establish the IIT campus in Abu Dhabi in July 2023, when PM Modi was in UAE.
Speaking on the IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi project, he said, “IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi is, again, a very significant project, perhaps the first of its kind. This would be the first IIT campus ever in the Middle East. And it all came out of the vision document, that was unveiled by our leaders in February 2022. It talked about setting up a campus of IIT here.”
“And just about eight months ago, in July, when the Prime Minister was here, we signed an MoU to establish that campus here. And today is a reality. About a week ago, the first master’s course commenced on sustainability and energy transition,” he added.
In 2023, IIT Delhi inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) and the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to set up its international campus in Abu Dhabi, according to an IIT Delhi press release. The MoU was signed in the presence of PM Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.