Bilateral defence interactions between India and UAE have been steadily growing

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria left on an official goodwill visit to UAE on Saturday to further strengthen the defence cooperation and Air Force level exchanges.

He is visiting the UAE on an invitation from Commander UAE Air Force and Air Defence (UAE AF & AD), Major General Ibrahim Nasser M. Al Alawi, a Ministry of Defence statement said on Saturday.

“Indian Air Force (IAF) and UAE AF & AD have had significant professional interactions in the past few years. This visit will further strengthen the defence cooperation and Air Force level exchanges, as part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides,” the statement said.

The air chief of the two countries had last met in February in Bengaluru, India at the Chiefs of Air Staff Conclave at Aero India 2021. Both Chiefs had noted the significant progress made in bilateral cooperation and exchanges between the two Air Forces.

Bilateral defence interactions between India and UAE have been steadily growing in accordance with other aspects of the bilateral relationship.

There have been regular high level exchanges at the level of Service Chiefs, functional level exchanges and military education exchanges between the countries.

In the recent years, IAF participated in a bilateral exercise with the UAE counterparts in May 2016 and UAE Air Force Officers participated as Observers in Trilateral Air Exercise on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) theme held in March 2018.

The ships of the Navies of both countries have regularly made port calls enhancing bilateral defence co-operation. India and UAE hold an Annual Defence Dialogue to discuss the security and defence co-operation issues between the two countries.