Live reports and exclusive stories into Narenda Modi’s two-day visit to the UAE

10.10am: Modi arrives at the Dubai Opera

The Indian PM is greeted by Vande Mataram slogans as he enters the iconic Dubai Opera. The auditorium erupted with Bharat Mata ki Jai and Modi chants.

The National anthems of both countries played to a pin drop silence of an emotionally rapt audience – who began singing the Indian national anthem in chorus.

9.42am: Understanding India’s soft power narrative

9:15am: Modi visits heroes’ memorial

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Wahat Al Karama, a memorial for UAE martyrs in Abu Dhabi to pay tribue to the UAE’s fallen heroes.

About Wahat Al Karama

Wahat Al Karama is a memorial site built to honour the UAE’s martyrs that opened to visitors in 2016. The monument is open every day from 9am to 7pm – except on national occasions, events and visits from official delegations. Spanning across 46,000sqm. the monument is symbolically located between the Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the General Headquarters of the UAE Armed Forces.

8:52am: Indian musical show enthralls crowd

A large crowd of 1,700 people invited at the Dubai Opera were treated to an Indian classical music performance ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled appearance at the venue. The show featured Indian percussionist Bikram Ghosh.

8:01am: Indian community ready to give warm welcome

Members of the Indian diaspora braved the fog and the cold to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Dubai Opera on Sunday.

Modi, who is on his second visit to the UAE in two years, arrived in the country on Saturday.

The Indian prime minister will be witnessing the groundbreaking ceremony of a historic Hindu temple being constructed in Abu Dhabi through a live feed at the Dubai Opera on Sunday.

The event, dubbed The Millennial Moment, is being attended by a 1,700-strong audience on an “invite-only” basis.

Modi is expected to address the audience at 9.30am.

Meanwhile, an instrumental Indian classical music programme is to be presented soon.

7:29am: Crowd gathers at Dubai Opera

Ahead of Narendra Modi’s arrival in Dubai on Sunday, a crowd had started building up at the Dubai Opera where the Indian prime minister is expected to interact with the Indian community.

Dr Shyam, an Ayurveda practitioner in the UAE, tells Gulf News he is excited about the Indian prime minister’s visit and that he hopes Modi will talk about Ayurveda, a holistic treatment that originated in India, which he said is popular in the UAE.

About the Dubai Opera

Even by Dubai’s usually tall standards, its opera house is exceptional.

The 2,000-odd multi format theatre – it turns into a theatre, concert hall and has a ‘flat floor’ mode — Dubai Opera debuted in 2016 to the chords of Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. It has since played the roles of everything from audition house (for the recently concluded West End-production-with-UAE-talent Evita) to fine dining restaurant, to movie theatre with a difference; Harry Potter spun spells with a live orchestra in the backdrop in December.

Paying homage to the UAE’s maritime traditions, the dhow-design exterior of Dubai Opera, by architect Janus Rostock, does not belie what lies inside. A hall where snow may fall come winter (it did for the Nutcracker), where a cherry blossom blooms for the broken-hearted (Puccini’s Madame Butterfly) and where it’s possible to dance on rooftops (Mary Poppins).

What to expect from Day 2 of Modi’s UAE visit

Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Wahat Al Karama, a memorial for UAE martyrs in Abu Dhabi, and pay his respects to the fallen heroes on Sunday morning before leaving for Dubai.

The premier will interact with the Indian community at Dubai Opera later where he will also participate in the ground-breaking ceremony of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi through livestreaming.

Modi’s other high-level engagements include a bilateral meeting with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and a keynote address at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Sunday, in which India is the guest of honour.

Modi arrived in Abu Dhabi for a two-day official visit on Saturday, affirming long-standing historical ties between the UAE and India.

The Indian leader, who is on a four-nation Middle East tour, received a warm welcome from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

As it happened on Saturday

11.14pm: Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed tweets about a boost to the strategic ties between UAE and India.

9.35pm: Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed and Indian Prime Minister Modi witness the signing of an agreement and three memoranda of understanding between the two countries to promote bilateral partnerships

9.25pm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed hold bilateral talks.

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed tweets: “The Indian Prime Minister’s visit reflects our longstanding historical ties and is testament to our friendly bilateral relationship. His visit also demonstrates the approach embraced by the two leaderships to bolster our cooperation in all domains and follow up this strategic approach through effective mechanisms to ensure the fulfilment of their visions.”

8.25pm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi oversees the signing of a number of agreements: On manpower; cooperation in railways; cooperation in inland waterways; and a deal between Bombay Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.

8pm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the newly opened Presidential Palace. The ceremony is set to start any minute now. But first, he meets the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Indian PM Narendra Modi is the first world leader to be hosted in the new Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi. – Binsal Abdul Kader / Gulf News

.

7.45pm:  Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, explains UAE-India strategic relations.

7.15: Iconic UAE buildings light up in Indian tricolour

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the UAE for two-day official visit

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, other shaikhs and senior officials welcomed Modi.

Modi’s other high-level engagements include a bilateral meeting with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and a keynote address at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Sunday, in which India is the guest of honour.

Modi reached the UAE after a historic visit to Palestine as the first Indian prime minister to visit the country, as part of a four-nation tour covering Jordan and Oman.

Modi is expected to visit Wahat Al Karama, a memorial for UAE martyrs in Abu Dhabi, and pay his respects to the fallen heroes on Sunday morning before leaving for Dubai.

The premier will interact with the Indian community at Dubai Opera later where he will also participate in the ground-breaking ceremony of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi through livestreaming.

He will also have a meeting with Arab CEOs in Dubai. The prime minister will leave for Oman from Dubai to conclude the visit to the region.

This is Modi’s second visit to the UAE in two-and-a-half years, following his maiden visit in August 2015, which was the first official visit of an Indian prime minister to the UAE in 34 years after Indira Gandhi’s visit in 1981.

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan also visited India twice in the same period: in February 2016 and January 2017.

The intensive high-level interactions elevated the bilateral relations into a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.