India and the UAE on Friday announced an agreement to have joint production and industrial partnership in manufacturing of defence equipment and advanced technology, a move that merges the financial capital of UAE with India’s rapidly growing defence production base.The agreement called the ‘Strategic Framework for Defence Industrial collaboration’ goes beyond industry and technology. It includes collaboration by the two sides on “training, exercises, education and doctrines, special operations and interoperability, maritime security, cyber defence, secure communications and information exchange”.The two sides announced the ‘Framework for the Strategic Defence Partnership’ following a bilateral meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of UAE in Abu Dhabi on Friday.Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X about the agreement and explained: “It strengthens defence industrial collaboration and boosts innovation and sharing of technology”.Indian defence exports stood at Rs 38,424 crore (approx. $ 4 billion) in the Financial Year 2025-26 and its defence production reached Rs 1.54 lakh crore.4 (approx. $ 16 billion).In January this year, when UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was on a state visit to New Delhi, the two countries had signed a letter of intent to work towards concluding a framework agreement for a strategic defence partnership. On Friday at Abu Dhabi, this framework was agreed upon.The framework looks at defence industrial cooperation, defence innovation, partnerships in advanced technology in the area of defence, as well as expanding the linkages on training, on education, perhaps training between the Special Forces of the two countries.Sources said that the two sides are pursuing joint manufacturing initiatives, including production models like the collaboration between India’s ICOMM and the UAE’s CARACAL for small arms. Both sides are targeting joint production in high-tech defence areas such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles, naval platforms, artificial intelligence and precision munitions.This, upgraded partnership would pave the way for manufacturing, technology transfer and capability development.In April 2025 the two sides elevated the institutional framework of defence dialogue between the two countries to the level of Secretaries and Vice Ministers.India-UAE Defence Industry Cooperation Forum has meet twice in the past two years with the Ministry of Defence guiding the talks. The forum brings together industry leaders and government officials from both countries to explore opportunities for collaboration in defence manufacturing and technology.Defence is one of the pillars of the existing India–UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership inked in 2017. Steady progress has been made through regular exchanges of service chiefs and senior commanders, along with successful bilateral military exercises involving the Army, Navy and Air Force.Defence ties are steered through a Joint Defence Co-operation Committee (JDCC) at the Ministry level, since the signing of an MoU on Defence Cooperation in June 2003.