India and the United Arab Emirates are likely to ink a new agreement for the promotion and protection of bilateral investments in each other’s country after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The two sides will also seek to boost bilateral cooperation in areas like energy, ports, digital infrastructure, and railways. 

Modi will be in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Tuesday and Wednesday. He will meet Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi soon after arriving in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“Since the digital cooperation between our two economies is an important element of the partnership, we are also looking to see if we can arrive at an understanding on investments in the field of digital infrastructure,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told journalists on Monday. 

He also said that New Delhi and Abu Dhabi were exploring the possibility of working out an arrangement for the protection and promotion of the flows of capital between the two nations.

India and the UAE had inked a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) in 2013 and it came into effect in 2014. The 10-year agreement will lapse in September 2024. The two sides however may ink a new BIPPA on the sideline of of Modi’s meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed. The prime minister will participate in the World Government Summit 2024 on Wednesday in Dubai as the guest of honour and deliver a special keynote address at the summit. He will also inaugurate the BAPS Mandir, the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi.