India, Sept. 1 -- It has only been a few weeks sinceI arrived in New Delhi to begin mywork as the UAE's ambassador to India. A moment such as this usuallycalls for a description of arriving in a new country and starting afresh. I would use a different word altogether. I would call it apnapan (belonging). This is one of the first Hindi words I have learnt, and I understand that no single translation captures it neatly, yet I have understood it instinctively. From childhood I have lived among and developed close friendships with Indians in the UAE. Now I have the privilege of getting to know the landscapes and communities they speak so fondly about. That affection runs both ways. The Indians that reside in the UAE are an essential part of Emirati life and have made our country their karmabhoomi, and, more importantly, their home. When a family sends one of its own across the seas, it entrusts another country with something precious. In Arabic, we call that an amanah. In Hindi, you say amanat. The words are almost identical because the feeling behind them is the same. We understand that responsibility. It rests on something that is both ancient and enduring. On an island off Abu Dhabi, archaeologists have found pottery that travelled from the Indus Valley some 4,000 years ago. Until 1966, we bought and sold in rupees printed in India. Today, in Abu Dhabi, a Hindu temple stands in pink sandstone carved in Rajasthan and carried across the sea. Every Diwali, diyas line the balconiesin Karama and Bur Dubai as they linestreets across India. And on the night of August 15, the Burj Khalifa, the tallestbuilding in the world, is lit up in the colours of the Indian flag. These centuries of interactions are what our leaders carry forward to the present day. The deep respect nurtured between Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, has made this relationship a strategic one, and as ambassador, my aim is to turn its strength into progress people can feel in everyday life. The UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has carried trade between us past $100 billion and held it there two years running. But the number matters only for what it delivers in practice. Easier trade means a Keralan spice exporter reaching buyers in Dubai she could never have reached before. It means a tech founder in Bengaluru turning an idea into a company in Abu Dhabi in weeks, not years, on the strength of trust our two countries' investors and institutions have built together. It is essential that both our peoples rise together. That is the vision behind every agreement we sign and every investment we make. Education shows the ambition most plainly. IIT Delhi now teaches in Abu Dhabi; IIM Ahmedabad has opened in Dubai. A student who once had to choose between India and the UAE can now have both: an Indian degree earned on Emirati soil, and a first job at a company that spans the two. These are not gestures; they are open doors, and a generation is already walking through them. India has inspired the world with its remarkable achievements, from building digital public services that reach hundreds of millions of people to expanding affordable health care and nurturing a vibrant spirit of entrepreneurship. The UAE intends to be a partner in that progress. What our two countries can achieve with their respective strengths is already considerable. But considerable is just a beginning, not a ceiling, and beginnings like this reward patience. I spent nearly ten years as the UAE's ambassador to South Korea, long enough to watch trust compound into trade, and acquaintance into genuine friendship. I mean to give India that same patient depth. While I have visited India several times before, living here is an opportunity to understand this country more deeply. My travels will take me well beyond Delhi. If you see me in your town, please tell me about your loved ones in the UAE. Tell me what you hope for them. From your vision for this partnership to the cricket team I should support and local dish I should try next, I want to hear all of it. I may have arrived in India only recently. But thanks to the millions of Indians who have long made the UAE their home, this already feels a little like coming home, too....