The Puzzle That is India-UAE Trade

How is it that the United Arab Emirates has become India's largest trading partner in recent years, overtaking the United States, European Union and China? An unusual pattern of two-way flows in gold, diamonds and jewellery seems to underlie the boom in bilateral trade. There is reason to suspect that some of this trade involves round tripping of merchandise and to that extent the volume of India-UAE trade may be artificially inflated.