Saahil Menon is a writer and investment analyst currently based in Dubai
On Apr. 8, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum—the favoured son of and heir apparent to Dubai's ruler Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MbR)—landed in India for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The extravagant fanfare surrounding the 42-year-old crown prince's whirlwind, multi-city tour was indicative of India's misplaced reverence for Gulf royals—beneficiaries of inherited privilege and unearned celebrity.
Only last July was Sheikh Hamdan formally inducted into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cabinet, inheriting the ceremonial roles of Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from his aging and visibly ailing father. Yet within hours of this diplomatic infant arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Modi hosted him for a working lunch to discuss strengthening bilateral ties and advancing their "shared vision of the future."
India's External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Commerce Secretary Piyush Goyal were also quick to roll out the red carpet. Goyal went so far as to call Sheikh Hamdan "a youth icon with a heart of gold" at a business forum in Mumbai. But such effusive praise—backed by Instagram snapshots of the prince with cricket stars and senior officials—masks the more troubling dynamics of Indo-Emirati relations, particularly among the millions of Indians who toil invisibly in the Gulf. Despite the lofty rhetoric of a "deep-rooted friendship," the India-UAE relationship is underpinned by an exploitative labor arrangement.
It is no secret that the Indian government exports human capital as a tool of statecraft to build bridges with malign foreign actors. In the aftermath of Hamas's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, Israel sought to replace Palestinian construction workers with Indian laborers—sending at least 16,000 in 2024. However, this pales in comparison to the number of Indian migrant workers in the UAE, with Indian expatriates constituting 38.2 percent of the total population, or 3.83 million people.
After the two countries ratified their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) almost three years ago, non-oil trade reached a record $57.8 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year and is expected to surpass $100 billion by 2030. However, the true engine is not trade—it is intentionally exploitative labor migration. Indians are overrepresented in a population driven by the steady export of cheap, expendable labor from the South Asian subcontinent. Most workers are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, representing 59.4 percent of the total population.
UAE authorities have normalized, and even tacitly condoned, discrimination against working-class South Asian migrants to preserve a rigid social order while reaping the economic benefits on the backs of mistreated workers.
- Saahil Menon
For most of them, particularly the vast majority who are blue collar, non-Arabic speaking guest workers, life is far from glamorous. Granted, Dubai has churned out some "rags-to-riches," self-made Indian billionaires like prominent industrialist MA Yussufali and GEMS Education founder Sunny Varkey. However, most Indian migrants remain disenfranchised and marginalized. Under the archaic kafala system, a labor sponsorship structure prevalent in many Gulf countries, expatriate employees and small business owners are legally bound to Emirati sponsors controlling their legal status and livelihoods. Both expatriate groups require Emirati sponsorship.
Described as modern-day slave labor and human trafficking, these workers have little recourse against mistreatment or exploitation, often driven by institutionalized, nativist racism and economic class in Gulf host countries. The UAE's medieval kafala system is no exception, leaving expatriates in both full-time employment and those who are business owners entirely at the mercy of a local sponsor and vulnerable to ill-treatment by the very people their legal status hinges on.
UAE authorities have normalized, and even tacitly condoned, discrimination against working-class South Asian migrants to preserve a rigid social order while reaping the economic benefits on the backs of mistreated workers. The UAE, by virtue of hosting millions of Indians, contributes 19.2 percent of India's $129.4 billion in annual remittances, gaining disproportionate leverage over New Delhi that hampers any would-be criticism of the system. But India's growing dependency extends beyond remittances.
Indeed, the growing Non-Resident Indian (NRI) diaspora in the Gulf, far from empowering India, has increased its vulnerability by attaching increasingly critical economic indicators undergirding New Delhi's overarching growth and development to the UAE. As such, in pursuit of greater foreign direct investment, Modi's government has consistently acquiesced to Emirati demands.
The UAE is the seventh largest investor in India. As such, Dubai has become the go-to destination for India's disaffected elite. Alongside British and Italian home buyers, Indians are the top investors in Dubai's real estate market in 2025. Furthermore, over 4,500 new Indian companies were registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in the first quarter of this calendar year alone.
With domestic prospects dimmed by economic inequality and rising authoritarianism, many Indians—both skilled and unskilled—find themselves increasingly tied to the UAE, not by choice but necessity. That dependence comes, however, at a diplomatic price.
In March 2018, Modi drew international condemnation for allegedly authorizing the Indian Coast Guard to violate international law by intercepting and repatriating Princess Latifa, the runaway daughter of Sheikh Mohammed. Four years later, his government expelled two high-profile members of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over inflammatory Islamophobic comments. New Delhi made this decision not for offending the religious sensitivities of India's nearly 200 million Muslims, but in response to backlash from the UAE and other autocratic Gulf states.
Even more worrisome is the growing defense cooperation between India and the UAE—with New Delhi constantly on the verge of getting sucked into the Gulf's volatile rivalries. In a potentially telling incident during the early days of the Yemen war, the UAE's then-Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash warned Pakistan it would "pay a heavy price" for not supporting the reckless military adventurism of the Saudi-Emirati coalition.
Similar cowboy tactics could be directed at India, considering the heightened national security threat Little Sparta faces from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for hosting U.S. Central Command's (CENTCOM) Al Dhafra Air Base, coupled with its role in the ongoing genocide in Gaza as a signatory to the Abraham Accords. Should the Middle East's security dimensions worsen, the UAE could pressure India into taking sides.
In this scenario, New Delhi could be placed on a collision course with Tehran if tensions continue to expand in the Arabian Peninsula, potentially guilt-tripping the Indian armed forces into throwing their weight behind tinpot tyrannies like the UAE. Such an incident would threaten the historically cordial relationship between both civilizational powers, which is not in New Delhi's interest.
Yet, Modi's government continues to deepen engagement with Abu Dhabi: purchasing Russian crude oil in UAE Dirhams to overcome currency-related payment hurdles; entering the I2U2 (Israel, India, United States and UAE) security framework; driving the IMEC trade route formed with the intention of keeping the "Deal of the Century" intact; and ignoring outbound Indian passengers routinely transiting through Dubai due to the sorry state of their country's civil aviation sector.
Make no mistake: The Modi administration has tethered India to a tiny, expat-driven sheikhdom that is not the tolerant or well-intentioned friend it masquerades as in public.
New Delhi must confront an uncomfortable truth: Its relationship with the UAE is not one of mutual respect, but of calculated dependence and strategic subjugation. If it wishes to assert itself as a true global power, India should begin decoupling from a regime whose growing belligerence throughout the Middle East and North Africa will inevitably invite harsh backlash.
The time has come to reset the terms of engagement. India deserves partnerships rooted in dignity, equity and shared democratic values—not deference to autocrats cloaked in gold-threaded robes at the expense of its people and autonomy.
