Modi’s grand tour: India links up with UAE, Europe to ‘hedge’ global shocks

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s whirlwind visit to the United Arab Emirates on Friday – the opening leg of a five-nation tour that will also take him through the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy – arrived at what analysts characterise as a moment of acute strategic opportunity.With oil prices spiralling amid the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran and the Middle East’s diplomatic landscape shifting beneath everyone’s feet, Modi brought with him not just diplomatic pleasantries but a set of concrete energy agreements that promise to help insulate India from the worst of what is to come.The visit carries additional weight given the UAE’s landmark decision last month to quit the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries – a move widely read as the opening chapter of a new Gulf energy order.Opec headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The UAE’s exit from the cartel’s quota system frees it to pump as much oil as it likes. Photo: Getty Images/TNSAs Opec’s sixth-largest producer, the UAE’s exit from the cartel’s quota system frees it to pump beyond its previous ceiling of 4.8 million barrels per day, giving it the flexibility to lock in preferential supply arrangements with favoured partners.