DBT Bureau
Pune, 27 Nov 2025
“My Priority is to Deepen the Trust and Chemistry on Both Sides”: India’s New UAE Ambassador Sets Clear Agenda at IGF Middle East 2025
In his first major remarks since assuming office, India’s new ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Deepak Mittal, said his immediate priority was to “deepen the trust which exists, the chemistry which exists on both sides,” emphasising that India and the UAE must now move with urgency to translate opportunities into action. The Ambassador was speaking at the concluding session of India Global Forum’s IGF Middle East 2025: NXT Frontiers in Dubai on Wednesday.
Highlighting the growing global footprint of the India–UAE partnership, Ambassador Mittal stressed that the relationship must now extend beyond bilateral cooperation to joint expansion in high-growth regions. “It’s not only India and the UAE, but also what we can do together in a third region, and Africa certainly is one such region of huge potential, because they are also all yearning for growth, for supply chains.”
Revealing the guidance he received from Prime Minister Narendra Modi before taking charge, Dr. Mittal said: “His only instruction was, this is a relationship which is of highest importance to us, and this is something which we should continue to nurture, which we should continue to help it thrive. So, the task before me is, how can you make it better?”
This fifth edition of IGF’s Dubai forum convened 90 senior leaders from government, global corporations, venture capital, advanced technology, academia and next-generation enterprises. Over two days, the invitation-only programme explored how India’s rapid digital and economic transformation can complement Gulf capital and innovation ecosystems to unlock growth across nine frontier themes: Capital, Deep Technology, Intelligence, Consumer Capital, Experience, Resilience, Healthspan, Ambition and Inclusion.
The event also witnessed the announcement of a pioneering $250 million expansion fund by IGF – anchored by Ved Family Office and Ananta Capital – to support high-growth Indian consumer and industrial brands in scaling across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and beyond via capital, logistics and IGF’s Accelerator Programme.
Hosted at the Dubai Future Foundation, the second day of the Forum brought together policymakers and innovators at the heart of the UAE’s future-economy agenda. “Governments around the world believe that Dubai is the city of the future,” said Abdulaziz AlJazir, Deputy CEO of Dubai Future Foundation. “Back in 2015, we launched the Dubai Blockchain, Autonomous Transportation, Renewable Energy, and 3-D Printing Strategies. No one was talking about these kinds of strategies back then. Our cities and entities were not ready; we had to spend time teaching the government and private sector about the future that we want to create,” he added.
Setting the tone for the Forum, Manoj Ladwa, Chairman of India Global Forum, said: “Our partnership with the UAE, and especially the Dubai Future Foundation, is central to the technological bridges we are building. Together, we are connecting India’s innovation ecosystem with the very best talent and ideas from around the world. Our aim is simple: to ensure India’s talent and ideas are part of the world’s most important conversations. I want to see that India’s innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem, including its startup ecosystem, connects with the very best around the world.”
Under the banner NXT Frontiers, IGF Middle East 2025 featured forward-looking discussions on the future of finance, deep-tech commercialisation, AI at scale, digital trade, supply chain redesign, leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainable global growth. Across roundtables, plenaries, fireside dialogues and curated networking formats, participants explored the opportunities and challenges ahead as the world adjusts to geopolitical transformation and rapid digitalisation.
Archana Jahagirdar, Founder and Managing Partner, Rukam Capital, underscored the shifting realities of the global economic environment. “We are living in a moment of deglobalisation. I think it’s quite clear that the era of globalisation is over, and even if the US has a different president a couple of years from now, those years are going to come back,” she said.
Tonya McSherry, VP EMEAI, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, highlighted the need for accessibility in future health systems: “Healthcare or Healthspan should not be a luxury; we all should have access to modern systems. To build this accessibility, we need technology that can decentralise healthcare to all.” Sharing her perspective on genetics and longevity, she said, “Longevity in lifespan is complex. Genetics is the key factor in how well someone’s longevity is. We are just scratching the surface of these genetic markets to understand the risks and opportunities.”
On what AI sovereignty really means, Saeed Al Falasi, Executive Director Dubai Centre of AI, Dubai Future Foundation, said: “People tend to forget that sovereignty is all about three things. Number one is, yes, it’s about data. We want to know where the data is. Where does it store it? Who controls it, who has access to it? The other part of it is decision sovereignty. And the third one is we want to say the optionality sovereignty. We want to make sure that all the systems that we’re running, we have an option in it. We’re not locked into a very specific vendor.”
The forum opened on Tuesday with H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama in conversation with investor-entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath at IGF’s marquee launch event Disruptors in the Desert, held at the Minister’s private residence.
