Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches United Arab Emirates on the second leg of his 3-nation visit; In Abu Dhabi, PM Modi will jointly release a commemorative stamp on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi along with the crown prince; PM will also ceremonially receive “Order of Zayed” – the highest civilian award of the UAE.

After his successful visit to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached United Arab Emirates on the second leg of his 3-nation visit. During his visit PM Modi will meet Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and discuss matters of mutual interest.

This list of accolades for Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see an addition on Saturday when he recieves the Order of Zayad Award in Abu Dhabi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joins Russian President Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth the Second and Chinese President Xi Jinping among other leaders in the list of recipients of the highest civil decoration of the UAE .

The award in the name of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE, acquires special significance as it was awarded to Prime Minister Modi in the year of the birth centenary of Sheikh Zayed.

Prime Minister will meet the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest. Commemorative stamps will be released on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations. Prime Minister will also launch the RuPay Card in UAE. With this, UAE will become the first Gulf state to issue RuPay card. India has already launched the RuPay card in Singapore and Bhutan.

UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner, with annual bilateral trade of about US$ 60 billion. The country is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India. A 3.3 million-strong vibrant Indian community in this Gulf nation has led to strong people-to-people contacts between both countries.