Indians in The United Arab Emirates - Indo-Emirati Relations

Indo-Emirati Relations

India and the UAE have generally enjoyed cordial relations, partly due to their shared history with the British presence in Asia, and partly due to the pre-colonial history of trade, commerce and settlement between the two nations. In 1999, the UAE government secured the release of 25 civilian passengers on board Indian Airlines flight IC-814 that had been hijacked and forced to land in Dubai en route to New Delhi from Katmandu, Nepal. However, several incidents, mainly concerning India's expatriate workforce in the UAE, have caused friction in Indo-Emirati relations. Indian consuls are consulted over disputes over wages and working conditions. On March 21, 2006, construction workers, many of whom were Indian, rioted at the construction site of Burj Khalifa, upset over bus timings, poor wages and living conditions.