The strategic understanding between India and the UAE is moving to a higher level as the leadership in both countries seek to identify common ground and shared priorities, and then establish the institutional mechanisms to ensure that action can be taken and then followed through to a successful conclusion.

It is an essential part of the deepening of the two states’ strategic understanding that both share common values like valuing tolerance, the rule of law and promoting peaceful conduct of international relations.

At a time of major global turmoil, it is important that states that support these values are prepared to stand up and fight for them, so that the world can see a way out of the current turmoil to a more stable and prosperous future.

Tomorrow is the first day of the visit to India by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, accompanied by a high-level delegation of government officials and businessmen.

The tour will build on the very important visit to the UAE by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last August, as UAE and India revitalise their centuries-old relationship and prepare to take it forward into the next century.

One element of possible cooperation on the security side can come from both states’ shared interest in the continued security of global navigation under existing international law. India and the UAE have coasts on the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean and will be able to build on the cooperation they already started when they worked to reduce the threat from Somali pirates.

Another very significant element of the visit is to promote better business relations between the two nations, which the UAE thinks can grow by 60 per cent in the next five years.

The two governments have developed a range of different initiatives to make it easier for businesses to cross borders. They will also be discussing how to mobilise the resources contained in the $75 billion (Dh275.85 billion) fund set up when Modi came to the UAE, due to be focused on investing in India’s badly under-resourced infrastructure.

Another significant area of immediate cooperation will be in sustainability, where the UAE has been investing in new research through institutions like Masdar, which can combine with Indian research and possible investment resources to help build a much more sustainable supply of energy.