(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday at the end of his two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, seeking to strengthen ties with the region and project India’s influence ahead of upcoming elections. 

The pink sandstone temple sits on a 27-acre plot in Abu Dhabi, making it one of the largest in the Middle East. While Islam is the official religion of the UAE, the country is home to about 3.6 million Indian workers, the world’s largest community of overseas Indians.

The guest list for the ceremony at the temple, known as the BAPS Hindu Mandir, included Indian government officials, Bollywood stars and members of the billionaire Ambani family. Senior Abu Dhabi officials will also be in attendance. 

This is the second major religious site to be inaugurated by Modi in recent weeks. In January, he helped to consecrate a controversial temple in northern India that was built on the site of a demolished 16th century mosque. The televised ceremony of the Ram temple in north-eastern India was widely seen as a milestone for his party’s goal of elevating Hinduism in Indian public life.  

Modi used his trip to the UAE to deepen commercial and diplomatic ties between India and the Gulf nation. The two countries agreed a bilateral investment treaty, pledged to cooperate on a major Middle East-Europe trade corridor, and inked agreements to work together in other areas such as digital infrastructure. 

He’s also used the trip — which will be followed by a visit to Qatar — to further cast himself as a global leader ahead of elections expected to kick off in April. Modi remains popular among his mainly Hindu voter base and his Bharatiya Janata Party is in a strong position to return to office, facing a weakened opposition alliance.

On Tuesday, Modi addressed more than 40,000 Indians in a stadium in Abu Dhabi, praising the UAE and its leader.  

--With assistance from Swati Gupta.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.