May 15, 2026 13:52 pm IST

Opinion | PM Modi Lands In UAE Amidst A Saudi 'Complication'

The UAE is getting disenchanted with Pakistan. And its rivalry with Saudi Arabia has only brought these fissures to India's doorstep.

Aditi Bhaduri Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

Aditi Bhaduri Columnist

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the UAE today. The visit is expected to last for only a few hours, but would get a high-level reception as he is expected to meet the UAE president and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss energy, regional security and the war on Iran. 

The announcement of the Prime Minister's visit had come a few weeks ago and, almost ironically, aligned with another piece of news linked to the UAE - the latter asking Pakistan to repay its loan of $3.2 billion. While the contrast could not be starker, what stood out most was the abrupt manner in which the UAE demanded such loan repayment and at such short notice. The UAE, together with the Saudis, had been bankrolling Pakistan's cash-strapped economy for years. Other Gulf states like Qatar have also pitched in from time to time. Yet, rarely had any of them been so stern about such repayment. The story became even more curious when the Saudis stepped in with the money to help Pakistan. If this wasn't enough, all this happened on the eve of the UAE's decision to quit OPEC and OPEC , and after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi visited Moscow and held talks with his Russian counterpart as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Soon after, reports appeared of Pakistani workers in the UAE abruptly being laid off from work and being sent back home.

All of this, taken together, lays bare old faultlines - in South Asia between India and Pakistan, and in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And both these fissures now seem to be intersecting, pointing to how Gulf politics is now increasingly getting intertwined with that of the Indian subcontinent.

The Growing UAE-Saudi Rivalry

On one hand, we have a growing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. By now, it is widely understood that the UAE's decision to leave OPEC was........

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