The most significant aspect of the joint statement may well have been the firm words about cross-border and sectarian terrorism. The two countries "condemn efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries". There was a promise to strengthen co-operation in extradition arrangements; in fact, India has had an extradition agreement with the UAE for over a decade. Usually it is last-mile hitches which prevent these extraditions from taking place; however, the India-born gangster kingpins who lived in Dubai in the 1990s have mostly relocated to Pakistan or Southeast Asia, away from extradition threats. The anti-terrorism message was underlined by the PM in a speech later to members of the Indian community in a local stadium. He also pointed out that there was no such thing as "good Taliban" - although there was some irony in making the statement in the place where the Taliban talked in June to Kabul's representatives.
That the visit seemed to have such a major anti-terrorism focus, including state terrorism, will inevitably be seen as a message to Pakistan. The context for this joint statement, and for the UAE's leaders' willingness to accommodate Indian concerns, is multi-dimensional. On the one hand, the UAE is concerned both about the terrorists of the Islamic State, or IS, and also of the re-emergence of Iran after the Islamic Republic successfully concluded negotiations over its nuclear programmes. On the other hand, a major bulwark of the security planning of the UAE and its close partner Saudi Arabia was the Pakistan military. It has invested a great deal in that country's military establishment over the years. Yet this year when those debts were called in, Pakistan refused to oblige; its National Assembly voted to avoid sending troops to take on the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen, who were the target of attacks by a coalition led by the Sunni Arab monarchies. With a resurgent Iran, a distracted US and a reticent Pakistan, the Gulf is forced to look elsewhere for allies. India should move to capitalise on this moment. Many forward steps are possible. Naval exercises, for one; the Indian navy sent four ships to the Gulf for a month in 2013, and though the Indian government described it as just a "port call", one day's basic exercises were conducted. Something more advanced in scope - with, in addition, a regular periodicity and a name - would be an obvious step forward.