Smart partnerships are all about finding the right timing and momentum. That’s why it’s taken just six months for His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to make a return visit to India.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was here last August to give strategic depth to what was once a transactional relationship.

Shaikh Mohammed’s visit to India shows the level of political and practical investments the two countries are putting into this partnership, said T.P. Seetharam, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, in an interview to Khaleej Times.

“The level of political engagement has been raised after PM Modi’s visit. As the relationship rises to a new level, you need new connections,” he said.

It’s one thing to buy basmati rice, dates and gold, but to talk in terms of participation in a strategic petroleum reserve in India shows how much ties between the two have diversified in such a short period.

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