India-UAE connectivity of utmost importance, says Consul General Puri

Aman Puri. Consul General of India in Dubai, said that Indian aviation players will take advantage of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE, and carve out a fair share from the emerging business. Puri was talking to ET TravelWorld. 

The Consul General said that connectivity was a key enabler for trade and investment. So, connectivity will be a focus area as the two countries sign the CEPA, which aims to take the current trade volume (pre-pandemic) between the two countries from USD 60 billion to nearly USD 115 billion (both goods and services) combined in the next five years.

Puri hoped that aviation capacity will bounce back to the pre-pandemic level as soon as the current restrictions are lifted. There were 75 daily frequencies operating between India and UAE prior to the Covid-19 restrictions and he did not see why the same capacity could not come back as when the governments decided to lift the suspension on scheduled international operations.

 “We are keen to promote Medical and Wellness tourism in addition to general leisure tourism from the region using Dubai as a hub.”

 — Aman Puri. Consul General of India in Dubai

Regarding connectivity between the two countries, the Consul General said that the government has to keep the interest of the Indian population living in the region and a bulk of them were blue-collar workers. Around 65 per cent of the 3.3 million Indians living in the region were blue-collar workers and therefore low-cost and affordable connectivity was important to them. More, a majority of foreign remittances India received was from these blue-collar workers. “We cannot ignore their welfare. Therefore, we will be supporting more low-cost affordable connectivity,” Puri said.

Admitting that there was a lot of “conservatism” in the Indian aviation industry when it came to dealing with large UAE carriers, he said that Indian carriers should be prepared to face up especially with the disinvestment of Air India which is expected to witness a lot of “opening up” of the sector soon. Puri said that Dubai was a strategic aviation hub and so it was a “springboard” for India’s business and trade aspirations to the larger MENA region.

Connectivity between India and the UAE has seen the second flight to Srinagar from Dubai. There is a flight operating between Srinagar and Sharjah. “We are keen to promote Medical and Wellness tourism in addition to general leisure tourism from the region using Dubai as a hub,” Puri said.

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