Crown Prince of Dubai to visit India on April 8-9; meet Modi, Jaishankar, Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, will visit India on April 8-9, during which he will hold meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and participate in a business roundtable seeking to bolster India-UAE ties.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made the announcement on Monday.

Sheikh Hamdan's visit follows an invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will host a "working lunch for His Highness the Crown Prince" on April 8, the MEA said in a statement.

"This would be the first official visit of His Highness to India as the Crown Prince of Dubai," it said.

Sheikh Hamdan will be accompanied by several ministers, senior government officials and a high-level business delegation, the MEA said.

"The visit of the Crown Prince will further solidify the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) and strengthen our multi-faceted ties with Dubai," it said in the statement.

"His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, deputy prime minister and minister of defence, the UAE, will visit India on April 8-9," the statement said The Crown Prince will hold meetings with Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh during his visit, it said.

During his visit, the Crown Prince will participate in a business roundtable with prominent business leaders from both sides in Mumbai.

"The interaction will strengthen India-UAE economic and commercial cooperation across traditional and futuristic areas," the MEA said.

Traditionally, Dubai has played an important role in India’s commercial, cultural and people-to-people exchanges with the UAE.

The majority of India's around 4.3 million diaspora in the UAE live and work in Dubai, the statement said.