SPACE THE NEXT FRONTIER IN UAE-INDO RELATIONS

Space exploration has been identified as a key area of co-operation between the UAE and India. The sector was singled out among a draft of collaborative agreements between the two countries during this week's key UAE mission to India led by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
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 During the three-day mission HH Sheikh Mohammed met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

HE Reem Al Hashimi, (pictured right_  the newly named UAE minister of state for international cooperation, described space as “a new and important sector for the two countries to work on.”

“We recently launched the UAE space agency, which is focused on looking at ways in which we could develop science around space but in particular develop a Mars mission,” said Minister Al Hashimi.
“That will culminate hopefully in 2020 or 2021, when we celebrate our golden jubilee as nation. We are focused on developing strong partnerships with countries such as India which have space expertise, to help us get up that learning curve.”

The UAE has said that it plans to boost bilateral trade with India by 60% by 2020 taking it to a value of US $100 billion.