Australia and UAE to explore deeper ties

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan have agreed to explore deeper defence ties between Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pyne and Sheikh Mohammed have met on Sunday on the sidelines of the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.

Pyne dished out that he and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince have agreed to consider a 10-year defence plan. “What the Crown Prince is talking about is a more mature long-term relationship built around security and procurement,” he said.

Australia has military personnel stationed in the UAE. There is no final agreement yet, but the deal could reportedly include a transfer of knowledge from Australian to UAE companies. Pyne said that the UAE is currently in search for genuine partners, not just foreign military sales. He believes that Australia’s attitude would be a good fit.

The defence plan that Pyne and Sheikh Mohammed have agreed on include more than 1 billion Australian dollars in sales to UAE. The former shared that these sales might include everything from ammunition to large items like high-speed support vessels.

"We have very significant capabilities, particularly around coastal protection and surveillance, which I think we should be sharing with our Middle Eastern partners,” Pyne told Reuters. The defence industry minister further shared that Australian companies are expected to finalize hundreds of millions of dollars in defence sales to the UAE at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference this week.

Pyne believes that the UAE is one of Australia's "closest friends in the Arab world". He said defence procurement partnerships and security partnerships that involve both countries are pivotal. The UAE is also a close ally of the United States as it has contributed to the country’s fight against the Islamic State.

The UAE, a federation of seven emirates on the Arabian Peninsula, is a member of the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition fighting in Yemen against the Iran-allied Houthi movement. Its constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. The UAE's natural gas reserves are the world's seventeenth largest in the world while its oil reserves are on the seventh spot.

International Defence Exhibition and Conference has opened with a military demonstration watched by Sudan President Omar al-Bashir alongside vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.