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Abu Dhabi tower lights up in celebration of PM Modi swearing-in

Abu Dhabi: The facade of the iconic ADNOC Group Tower in Abu Dhabi was lit with the flags of India and the UAE and portraits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signifying the close bilateral relations between the two countries.

“Now this is true friendship! As PM @narendramodi is sworn in for a second term in office, the iconic @AdnocGroup tower in Abu Dhabi is lit up with India and UAE flags and portraits of our PM and of HH Sheikh,” Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri wrote on his Twitter handle and tagged a video of the beautifully-lit tower.

“Beyond the symbolism of these images is also the clear direction that Prime Minister Modi and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed have provided to diplomats like us to make ”the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” a truly vibrant example of what we can achieve when we work together,” Mr Suri told WAM news agency.

He said that India-UAE relations witnessed a real transformation since Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UAE in August 2015.

“The close friendship that has blossomed over the last four years between our Prime Minister and the Crown Prince is well-known. The whole world can see it today in this unique celebration of the re-election of the Prime Minister for a fresh five-year term,” the envoy said.

Mr Suri underlined that the transformed relations made an unprecedented impact in areas such as trade and investment flows, food and energy security, manpower and skills, literature and culture, defence, space and security cooperation, and growing people-to-peopleconnections.

“So, as the Prime Minister starts his second term in office, there is tremendous sense of optimism for India-UAE ties. We now have the opportunity to build upon the strong platform that we have created over the last four years, and to make the coming period a truly ”Golden Era” in our relationship,” Mr Suri further said.

India’s energy security is a top priority for the UAE with ADNOC being the only foreign oil and gas company, to date, to invest in India’s strategic petroleum reserves programme. ADNOC is also a stakeholder in one of India’s largest refinery and petrochemical complexes, which will be constructed at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, according to WAM.

PM Modi, who got a massive mandate in the elections, on Thursday took oath as Prime Minister again for a second consecutive term inducting confidant and BJP President Amit Shah into his Cabinet along with the surprise inclusion of former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, while retaining most of his earlier Cabinet ministers and dropping seniors like Suresh Prabhu, Maneka Gandhi and Radha Mohan Singh.

Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sadanand Gowda and Smriti Irani were among the Cabinet ministers who took oath along with representatives of BJP allies–Ram Vilas Paswan (LJSP), Harsimrat Kaur (Akali Dal), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena) and Ramdas Athawale (RPI-A) who will be a Minister of State.

The 58-member council of ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan before a gathering of over 6,000 guests that included heads of governments and states from BIMSTEC countries, Prime Minister of Mauritius, President of Kyrgyzstan, political leaders, captains of industry, Bollywood and other film celebrities and diplomatic representatives stationed in Delhi.

Riding high on the planks of muscular nationalism and anti-Congressism, BJP, which had won 282 seats in 2014, improved its tally by notching up 303 seats. Along with its NDA allies, the number swelled to 353 in the 543-member Lower House of the Parliament.