ABU DHABI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened a grand Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Feb 14, capping off a two-day visit to the Muslim nation that is home to around 3.5 million Indians. 

A day earlier, tens of thousands of Indians filled a soccer stadium in capital Abu Dhabi, cheering on Mr Modi who is seeking a rare third term in India’s upcoming general election. His visit to one of India’s largest trading partners showed how the Hindu nationalist has deepened New Delhi’s relations with the Middle East.

At home, critics say that since Mr Modi took office in 2014, religious polarisation has risen and that Indian Muslims, who make up 14 per cent of the 1.42 billion population, are being marginalised.

The opening of the temple in a Muslim country has garnered widespread domestic press coverage in India and follows January’s opening by Mr Modi of a massive temple in India built on the site of a 16th-century mosque destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992.

The UAE government gifted the 11ha in Abu Dhabi where the grand temple was built. It was constructed at a cost of about US$95 million (S$128 million) by the Hindu BAPS organisation that was founded in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat more than a century ago.

Hindu temples have for decades existed in the UAE, a Gulf state whose one million citizens are a minority compared with some 10 million residents there who are the backbone of the workforce.

Accompanied by Hindu religious leaders and monks, Mr Modi offered prayers and performed rituals as he toured the temple in an event that was attended by UAE government officials, Bollywood actors and the Indian community.

“This temple is a symbol of the shared heritage of humanity. It is a symbol of the mutual love between the Indian and Arab people. It reflects the philosophical connection between India and the UAE,” Mr Modi said to a crowd waving UAE and Indian flags.

At the inauguration ceremony, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahyan praised Mr Modi for strengthening relations and said the temple reflected the UAE’s openness to different religions and ethnicities.

Close partners

The opening of the first traditional, stone-carved Hindu temple on the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, is symbolic of the close ties between India and the UAE.

Mr Modi thanked UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whom he refers to as his brother, for granting permission to build the temple. India’s relationship with the influential Middle East state, built on more than a century of trade links, has expanded since Mr Modi took office.

The two countries signed a series of agreements during the visit, including a framework accord on developing a sea and rail trade corridor from India, across the Arabian Sea, to the UAE and through Middle Eastern states, including Israel, to Europe.

“This visit is more about consolidating an already very strong legacy in the Middle East,” said Professor Harsh V. Pant of Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation.

The opening of the temple showed how Mr Modi conducts foreign policy on his own terms and has taken the message of a culturally embedded Hinduism in Indian politics overseas, he said.

Mr Modi is widely popular among his Hindu-majority base, which sees the leader, who has established a strongman image at home and among world leaders, as leading a Hindu re-awakening in India.

Indian Muslims accuse Mr Modi’s right-wing nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of imposing laws interfering with their faith. Mr Modi denies this but the situation has led to sporadic violence between members of the two communities.

The seven emirates of the UAE are represented by the seven spires of the Abu Dhabi temple, which was built with sandstone from India’s Rajasthan and marble from Italy. Hindu deities are depicted along with ancient civilisations and other religions, including Islam, the only official religion of the Gulf state.

Mr Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, a Hindu religious leader from the temple, told Reuters the Abu Dhabi temple was a symbol of harmony of all religions.

“This is a place where art is ageless. Culture is borderless and values are timeless. It is founded on universal spiritual values,” he said ahead of its opening. REUTERS