Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a grand Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during a two-day visit to the country. The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, built on a 27-acre plot donated by the UAE government, is expected to boost the Indian government’s Hindu nationalist agenda ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The temple, run by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, was announced during Mr. Modi’s 2018 visit to the UAE. It is the first Hindu temple in the country to be built using traditional techniques and is expected to appeal to the 660,000 Hindus in the UAE. The temple, made from pink sandstone from Rajasthan state and white Italian marble, was carved in India and assembled in Dubai. With a height of 108ft, length of 262ft, and width of 180ft, it was reportedly built on a budget of 7bn rupees ($84.2m).
This inauguration comes weeks after Mr. Modi inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Ram in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, which replaced a 16th-Century mosque torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992.
India and the UAE, close allies, share $85bn in bilateral trade, and the two countries recently signed a bilateral investment treaty and a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The agreements are aimed at bolstering cooperation in the fields of energy security, trade, and digital infrastructure development.
As Mr. Modi participated in the World Governments Summit, he also addressed the Indian community in Abu Dhabi, thanking the UAE president for allotting land for the temple.
The historic background of this topic is that the construction of the BAPS Hindu Mandir temple in Abu Dhabi represents a significant milestone in the growing relationship and cooperation between India and the UAE. Additionally, the temple inauguration aligns with the Indian government’s efforts to promote its Hindu nationalist agenda, potentially impacting the upcoming general elections in India.
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