India’s GST Push Stalled by Parliament Chaos

The Indian community in the UAE is planning a Madison Square-like reception for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first Indian premier to visit the oil-rich Arab nation in 34 years. The deal was signed in December 2013 to ensure protection of crossborder investments by India and the UAE. There are an estimated 2.6 million Indians in the UAE alone. Then-prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Emirates in 1981. Some reports even suggest Modi will drop key elements of the land bill, a move that would water down its potential impact. In 2012, Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company acquired an engineering and construction contract from India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to build offshore platforms in the Mumbai High field.

Sources say about Dh4m is being contributed for the event by an Indian businessman.

Ansari thanked India for extending all possible help to Iran during the sanctions regime that is now coming to an end with an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

During his meeting with Modi in Ufa, Russia, earlier this month on the sidelines of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had offered India a bigger role in its strategic infrastructure projects including ports, railroads and highways and sought investments to the tune of Dollars eight billion, Iranian Ambassador here Gholamreza Ansari had told PTI in an interview. The UAE delegation attending the High Level Joint Task Force meeting in 2014 called on Indian clean energy investors to explore investment possibilities with Masdar, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi government’s Mubadala. The Gulf States meanwhile are interested in human resources from India in order to develop sectors as varied as information technology, construction, transportation, and services. The year 2015 has been earmarked as the “Year of Innovation” by the UAE government.

Reacting to Rajnath’s remarks, the Congress on Saturday said the NDA government was trying to rake up the Hindu terror issue in a bid to divide and polarise the country. “The confusion created by the Congress is prevailing and people of India (are) being denied a meaningful parliament session”, she said.

For all these reasons, Modi’s visit to the UAE is going to be significant and it will once again underline India’s continuing stakes in a region that is growing through a period of momentous change.