Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in the UAE on the second leg of his three-nation tour where he will discuss bilateral and regional issues with the top leadership.

Modi reached UAE capital Abu Dhabi from Paris late Friday night.

The Prime Minister will hold talks with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discuss bilateral, regional and international matters of mutual interest.

Deepening economic relations will also be on the agenda during this visit, PM Modi tweeted on his arrival.

“Frequent high-level interactions between India and UAE testify to the vibrant bilateral relations,” he tweeted, adding that the visit will further strengthen the multifaceted bilateral ties with UAE.

PM Modi will also formally launch the RuPay card to expand the network of cashless transactions abroad. UAE will be the first country in the Middle East to commence the RuPay card facility.

Modi will receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil decoration of the UAE which was conferred earlier in April 2019 in recognition of the leadership of the Prime Minister for giving a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries.

The award in the name of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE, acquires special significance as it was awarded to Prime Minister Modi in the year of the birth centenary of Sheikh Zayed.

In February 2018, PM Modi visited the UAE as the Chief Guest at the World Government Summit. Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had visited India during February 2016 and then during January 2017 as the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

From Abu Dhabi, Modi will visit Bahrain on 24 and 25 August and hold talks with Prince Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain to discuss the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and also regional and international issues of mutual interest.

After completing his visit to Bahrain, Modi will fly back to France to attend the outreach session of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, where India has been invited as a partner country.

The Prime Minister was in France on August 22 and 23 for a bilateral meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

He addressed an event of the Indian community at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and also inaugurated a memorial for the Indian victims of two tragic air crashes of Air India flights in 1950 and 1966.