India, UAE scripting history together, PM tells diaspora

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are scripting a new history, partnering in areas such as fintech and innovation to build on a relationship that dates back thousands of years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

The premier's speech at "Ahlan Modi" (Welcome Modi), an event at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi that brought together about 60,000 people, was peppered with praise for UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed AI Nahyan for taking care of the 3.5-million expatriate community and strengthening bilateral ties.

Such community events have become a feature of Modi's foreign visits and he used the occasion to focus on the strong strategic partnership between India and the UAE and the Indian community's role in bringing the two sides closer and boosting the development of the emirates.

"India and the UAE are together scripting a new history for the 21st century and you are part of the strong base for this history along with me. Your hard work here is giving India energy.

You should keep making the progress and friendship of India and the UAE stronger," Modi told the gathering comprising mostly Indian nationals, speaking in Hindi.

He also spoke some lines in Arabic, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu during the course of his address.

India and the UAE are partners in each other's progress, and relations were strengthened by joint work in talent, innovation and culture. The UAE is India's third largest trade partner and seventh largest investor, and both sides are closely cooperating to improve the ease of living and ease of doing business, he said.