"Proud to be strategic partner and friend of India": UAE Ambassador Abdulnasser Alshaali

New Delhi [India], September 11 : Lauding India for the “well-organised” G20 Summit and work done during its presidency, UAE Ambassador to India Abdulnasser Jamal Alshaali has said that his country is very proud to be a part of the process and “very proud to be a strategic partner and friend of India”.

In an interview with ANI, the envoy also lauded the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, saying it will help connect markets of different countries.

"Very well done, India's G20 team and the Indian Government on a very well organised not only G20 Summit but the entire process. We are very proud to be a part of this process. We are very proud to be a strategic partner and friend of India," he said.

He said many engagements took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

"Very successful! You could see it from all the bilateral, trilateral and multilateral engagements that took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Besides the G20 itself, the consensus that was arrived at the Declaration was a process that started quite some time ago to make sure that the Declaration was a Declaration worthy of the Indian presidency of the G20," he said.

The UAE Ambassador said that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will provide many opportunities.

"The significance is in connecting the markets of those countries as well as the markets of other countries. We want to capitalise on what we can do together - our expertise, our capacity, our capabilities - not only in terms of research and development & investment but also the opportunities in the various fields of cooperation and collaboration that we can work on together, connecting our markets to other markets," he said.

UAE was a special invitee at the G20 summit held in the national capital on September 9 and 10.  

India, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden co-chaired a special event on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) and India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) on September 9 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

The event aimed at unlocking greater investment for infrastructure development and strengthening connectivity in its various dimensions between India, the Middle East and Europe.

Leaders of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, UAE and Saudi Arabia, as also the World Bank, participated in the event.

PGII is a developmental initiative aimed at narrowing the infrastructure gap in developing countries as well as help towards accelerating the progress on SDGs globally.

The IMEC comprises of an Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Gulf region and a Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe. It will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes.

The UAE Ambassador also lauded the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of G20.

"The African continent is important and the fact that the African Union has not been represented before at the G20, is not something that should have been the case. But now, we have corrected that. The African Union is going to continue to be part of the process and this brings the voice of all Africans into the G20 as a platform," he said.  

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