Christian Michel extradition to India was expedited due to close ties: UAE envoy

Weeks after alleged AgustaWestland chopper deal middleman Christian Michel was extradited to India from the UAE, Dr Ahmed Albanna-- gulf country envoy to India -- credited personal touch between UAE and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for the expedited extradition.

Interacting with media in Delhi, Albanna said, "The close relationship, the very very important strategic and the personal touch in the relationship that counts, that sometimes makes things that don't happen in one year to happen in one day".

He also said, "We do have a very good collaboration and cooperation, and we have signed an agreement in terms of giving information, security collaboration so on."

Christian Michel is the key middleman in the Rs 3600 Crores AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam and was extradited from UAE in December of 2018.

India had sent extradition request in 2017 to UAE and after a lengthy legal battle in UAE courts, he was extradited to India on 4th December 2019.

New Delhi has also given consular access to the United Kingdom for Michel. Notably, Michel is a British national who has been extradited from a third country, that is UAE. In the last four years, 16 fugitive criminals have been extradited back to India.

On India-UAE ties, Albanna said, "Bilateral ties are at its peak with high-level visits in many different sectors by ministers and CEOs. India is a major economic partner. We want to keep up with the relationship. We make sure things are on the right track. We have a special relationship because of the visits of PM Modi and crown prince of Abu Dhabi"

PM Modi visited UAE in August of 2015 followed by the visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India in February of 2016.

Crown Prince was the Chief guest at India's Republic day in 2017 which was his second visit to India. Following the visit, PM Modi visited Dubai in 2018 for the sixth World Government Summit.

UAE has announced that it will build the first Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi.

Indian population in UAE currently stands at around 3.3 million, making it the largest concentration of Indian nationals outside India.