Abu Dhabi: Shortly after his arrival in UAE, PM Modi met Crown Prince ofAbu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and held wide-ranging talks with himon Saturday.

In the presence of PM Modi and Al Nahyan, the two sides also signed fiveagreements including a historic pact awarding a consortium of Indian oilcompanies a 10 percent stake in offshore oil concession.

Modi, who arrived here from Jordan on the second leg of his three-nationtour, was received by Mohammed Bin Zayed and other members of the Royalfamily at the airport.

The two leaders hugged each other and exchanged pleasantries.

The Prime Minister thanked the Crown Prince for the special gesture ofreceiving him at the airport and said his visit will have a positive impacton India-UAE ties.

“We warmly welcome our state guest and valued friend, the Indian PrimeMinister H.E.@narendramodi to the UAE. His visit reflects our long-standinghistorical ties and is a testament to our friendly bilateral relationship,”Mohammed Bin Zayed, also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE ArmedForces, tweeted.

PM Modi who is here on his second visit to the UAE, held wide-ranging talkswith and Mohammed Bin Zayed.

Modi had first visited the UAE as Prime Minister in August 2015.

After their talks, the two sides signed five agreements related to theenergy sector, railways, manpower and financial services.

An MOU between Indian Consortium (OVL, BPRL and IOCL) and Abu DhabiNational Oil Company (ADNOC) was signed for the acquisition of a 10 percentparticipating interest in the Abu Dhabi’s offshore Lower Zakum Concession,a statement issued by the Indian embassy here said.

The concession will be for 40 years from 2018 to 2057. Sixty percent of theparticipating interest will be retained by ADNOC and remaining 30 percentwill be awarded to other international oil companies, the statement said.

“This is the first Indian Investment in the upstream oil sector of UAE,transforming the traditional buyer-seller relationship to a long-terminvestor relationship,” it added.

To cooperate in the field of manpower, India and the UAE signed a MoU thataims to institutionalise the collaborative administration of contractualemployment of Indian workers in the Gulf country.

Under the MoU, both the sides will work to integrate their labour relatede-platforms for ending the existing malpractices, combat trafficking andorganise collaborative programs for education and awareness of contractualworkers.

A MoU for technical cooperation in railways was also signed between the twosides. The MoU aims at cooperation in infrastructure sector especiallyrailways.

“The MoU will facilitate the development of joint projects, knowledgesharing, joint research and technology transfer. The MoU envisagesformation of a Joint Working Group for institutionalising the cooperationmechanism,” the statement said.

To deepen bilateral cooperation in the field of finance, a MoU betweenBombay Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was also signed. Itaims at enhancing cooperation between both the countries in the financialservices industry.

The MoU would facilitate investment in financial markets by investors fromboth the countries.

A MoU between Government of Jammu and Kashmir and DP World was also signedto establish multi-modal logistics park and hub in Jammu comprisingwarehouses and specialised storage solutions.

Various buildings in Abu Dhabi were lit in the Indian tricolour as the citywas decked up to welcome Prime Minister Modi, who also attended a statebanquet hosted by the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince.

The Prime Minister will visit Wahat Al Karama, the UAE martyr’s warmemorial here, on Sunday before travelling to Dubai where he will interactwith the Indian community at an event at the Dubai Opera House and willwitness the ground-breaking ceremony of the first Hindu temple in AbuDhabi. The ceremony will be live-streamed to the Opera House.

Prime Minister Modi will also deliver a keynote address at the WorldGovernment Summit in Dubai where India is a guest of honour this year.

He will make the inaugural address on the theme: ‘Technology fordevelopment’.