The visiting UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Lt Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram signed two important agreements – India-UAE Agreement on Security Cooperation and India-UAE Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

The two leaders also met and discussed issues pertaining to bilateral security cooperation between two countries.

The India-UAE Agreement on Security Cooperation seeks to strengthen and develop the existing bilateral framework and mechanism to enhance security cooperation in the areas such as combating terrorism in all forms, addressing activities of organized criminal groups, drug trafficking, illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition, explosives, etc.; and initiatives on training of personnel.

This bilateral agreement on security cooperation will facilitate collaboration to fight international crimes including terrorism, money-laundering and cyber security by sharing intelligence information and training facilities. It will also cover sharing of information, training, technology and experts between the two countries. Both the countries have extradition treaty that witnessed deportation of number of criminals in the past.

The India-UAE Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons provides the framework to facilitate the social rehabilitation of sentenced persons in their respective countries by giving citizens of the Contracting States, who have been convicted and sentenced as a result of commission of a criminal offence, the opportunity to serve the sentence in their own society.

The long-awaited agreement will give sentenced prisoners in the UAE and India an option to spend remaining part of their sentence in their home country. There are still about 1,200 Indians lodged in various prisons in UAE. Most of them are behind bars either for financial irregularities or for violation of the UAE residency law. Most of them can now breathe a sigh of relief as the bilateral agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners would give an to remain close to their family and friends for the rest of their sentence period. However, the transfer of the prisoner will be subject of his approval and that the prisoner should have at least six months left to serve in his sentence.

Issues relating to drug trafficking, security, capacity building so as to enhance cooperation to combat organized crimes and international terrorism were also discussed in the meeting.

Both countries reiterated their commitment for enhanced cooperation in investigation of mutually relevant criminal cases and sharing of relevant information in this regard.