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Earlier this week, Indian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Pavan Kapoor posted a rare warning on Twitter for Indian nationals in that country to remember that India and their host country shared the values of “non-discrimination on any grounds”. This followed reports in the Gulf News of how Indian nationals were getting sacked for posting alleged Islamophobic messages on social media.
In an interview, Kapoor spoke about why he had issued the warning, whether India’s image in the UAE, and the larger Arab world, had suffered from the social media posts of some individuals, and on recent critical remarks against India by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Edited excerpts:
What made you post the message? What kind of a challenge do these kinds of social media posts pose for you?
We had seen a sudden spurt in insensitive messages on social media from around 15 April. When I saw honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet giving a clear message on how covid-19 should be perceived, I thought it would be useful to retweet that to reinforce the message to Indians in the UAE also.
Has public perception of India been affected by these posts in the UAE, and the wider Arab world? The Twitter post by the Emirati princess seems to show a certain discomfort among the members of the ruling family, too. Does this mean the larger India-UAE relationship is affected by these social media posts?
We have a longstanding relationship with the UAE and the wider Arab world. This goes back hundreds of years, and a significant element of the relationship is our people-to-people understanding and connect. Most people in the UAE understand that some derogatory posts by individuals do not reflect the much larger reality of India, which continues to be a secular democracy, with mutual respect for all religions. I do not expect the larger India-UAE relationship to be affected by a few individual posts.
The OIC, too, had some critical remarks, though many would say that is not unusual. Given that it’s just a year since former foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was in the UAE for the OIC foreign ministers ’meet, the OIC remarks seem harsh.
It is regrettable that the OIC has made such remarks. However, we know that the processes of OIC often work in a way in which an individual member or two, without consultation with others, can influence the Secretariat to issue such statements. I am quite sure that the UAE’s views on India are not reflected in this statement.
Are you reaching out to the Indian community to sensitize them about the dangers of such posts?
At this time of the covid-19 crisis, our focus is on helping the Indian community in dealing with its health and economic impact. We are providing those in need with food, medical assistance in the form of helplines, and also trying to create capacity to isolate those of them who live in clusters despite testing positive. I think my tweet spoke for itself.
Given that oil prices have crashed, what happens to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.’s (ADNOC’s) plans to build the strategic oil reserve? Is that still on?
Plans to build our strategic oil reserves have been progressing well with the full assistance of the UAE. In fact, we are continuing to work closely with ADNOC to see how we can fill our strategic reserve tanks, using previously contracted amounts of crude oil from them.
What about UAE’s plans for investment in India in the long term and in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (IFRS)?
The UAE is already the tenth largest FDI investor in India. Infrastructure is one of the key sectors for such investments. The UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund aims at attracting around $ 75 billion into Indian infrastructure, including through the IFRS. Over the last few months, India has taken some specific measures to facilitate even more investments through the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. There is a stand-still in the world economy that is affecting all. I am confident that once we recover from this crisis and the economy picks up again, the UAE’s investment plans in India will continue to progress.
