India, UAE sign pacts for rupee-dirham trade

India has taken its multi-faceted ties with the United Arab Emirates to a higher trajectory by signing an agreement with the Gulf powerhouse that will allow it to settle trade in rupees instead of dollars, which will lead to a marked acceleration in bilateral trade. In a short but substantive visit by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Abu Dhabi on July 15, the two countries also agreed to set up a real-time payment link to facilitate easier cross-border money transfers. These two agreements will enable “seamless cross-border transactions and payments, and foster greater economic cooperation”, said the Reserve Bank of India in a statement. PM Modi also announced the setting up of a branch of Indian Institute of Technology in Abu Dhabi. The agreements were unveiled after talks  between PM Modi and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi.