Earlier on Wednesday, President Pratibha Patil discussed investment opportunities in India and the UAE with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Makhtoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and the Minister of Presidential Affairs in Abu Dhabi.
The President said India was looking at $1 trillion in investments in the infrastructure over the next five years and that the government was planning to disinvest up to $8.7 billion in public sector undertakings.
Sheikh Mansour will be visiting India soon to discuss investment opportunities — interestingly, he also heads the International Petroleum Investment Company, an entity of the Abu Dhabi Government responsible for all foreign investments in the oil and petrochemical sector, Chairman of the Emirates Investment Authority, a leading Sovereign Wealth Funds in the UAE and a board member of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority that is considered to be the largest Sovereign Wealth Funds in the world. The President once again thanked the UAE Government for its support for India's election to the non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
The ruler of Dubai reiterated that the UAE also supports India's candidature for a permanent seat on an expanded UNSC.