Indian premier thanks UAE for land to build temple

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the UAE for allocating land to build the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. 

Dubai currently has two Hindu temples and one Sikh Gurudwara, but there are none in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is also home to about 2.6 million Indian expatriates who make up about a third of the total population and exceed the number of Emirati citizens.

In July 2013, The Times of India, citing a source within the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), said a Muslim businessman had donated five acres of land for the building of a temple in Abu Dhabi, reported al-Jazeera.

However, it is unclear if this was the same piece of land.

Currently on a two-day trip to the UAE, Modi thanked the UAE on Sunday via twitter, describing the decision as 'a great step'.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 16, 2015 " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post I am very thankful to the UAE Govt for their decision to allot land in order to build a Temple in Abu Dhabi. This is a great step. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 16, 2015