DUBAI – PM Narendra Modi is the only Indian premier to have officiallyvisited the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is set to return for secondtime. Little wonder then that massive renditions of the Indian Tricolourdominated the cityscapes of the UAE’s two biggest cities. Iconic structuresin both cities lit up in saffron, white and green on Friday night, inpreparation for PM Modi’s arrival.

The largest display of the Indian flag, obviously, was on the façade of thecolossal Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. At 828metres tall, this could just easily be the largest display of the Indianflag ever.

But the Burj Khalifa was hardly the only building in Dubai decked out forModi arrival. The city’s latest attraction, the Dubai Frame, too displayedthe Tricolour on, well, its frame.

The Dubai Frame is a structure that was dubbed the ‘biggest picture frameon the planet’. And it is simply that – a frame that’s 150 metres tall and105 metres wide, and nothing in the middle.

Look through it from one side, and it’s a view of the new Dubai – gleamingand towering skyscrapers glitzing out the skyline, including theTricolour-draped Burj Khalifa. Look at from the other side, and it’s a viewof the older parts of Dubai, some of which feature centuries old souks andhomes.

That you could look from one Dubai to another through a frame that’sdressed up in the Indian Tricolour is perhaps a fitting metaphor for theplace Indians occupy in the present and the history of the city.