Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday strongly condemned attacks on the United Arab Emirates during talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, saying the manner in which the Gulf nation had been targeted was “not acceptable”. Modi praised the UAE’s restraint in handling the current situation and noted that the impact of the ongoing West Asia conflict was being felt globally.Reiterating India’s support for peace efforts, the Prime Minister said New Delhi was ready to extend all possible assistance to help restore stability in the region.Modi’s short stop over at Abu Dhabi on the way to Europe has, as anticipated, yielded strategic, economic and energy security related gains for India.After the prime minister met Nahyan for bilateral talks, the two sides announced consequential outcomes — top among these being an agreement on the Strategic Defence Partnership, an MoU on Strategic Petroleum reserves and LPG and mega investment pledges.The agreement on Strategic Defence Partnership takes forward the commitment both sides made earlier this year when they signed a Letter of Intent to formalise an SDP — a sign that India wants to expand its role in the Gulf from a mere buyer of energy to a strategic partner and security provider. The urge is directly linked to stakes in the wider Indian Ocean Region.That said, the most important takeaway from PM Modi’s brief trip to the UAE at the time of escalating tensions in West Asia and rising global crude prices today was the MoU on Strategic Petroleum Reserves and Agreement on supplies of Liquified Petroleum gas (LPG).The fact that the visit coincided with the first fuel price rise in India in four years made it even more significant.The PM’s short trip to UAE brings big returns for India, said sources today.Among other agreements announced were an MoU on setting up Ship Repair Cluster at Vadinar in Gujarat.Investments worth USD 5 billion have also been announced by the UAE in Indian infrastructure, RBL Bank and Samman Capital.Top sources said these agreements would deepen India’s economic partnership with the UAE which transformed after the two sides signed the 2022 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which led the UAE to rise up the charts and become India’s third largest trading partner.With inputs from PTI.