New Delhi. Sept. 3: India and the United Arab Emirates are negotiating changes to the Gulf country's labour regulations to allow freer mobility of Indian workers there, as the nations expand their economic ties to tap a regional demand for quality, affordable education and health care.

A team of experts from both nations is working on a blueprint of legal changes that will allow a broader set of Indian workers in the UAE to change jobs there more easily, senior officials familiar with the plan saidtoday.

Over 2.6 million Indians work in the UAE, the second largest Indian diaspora in West Asia after Saudi Arabia, and the remittances they send home, along with oil and infrastructure-based investments, have been the bedrock of the economic partnership between the countries.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her UAE counterpart Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed here today on joint investment cooperation in higher education and health care. The UAE foreign minister is the son of the country's founder, Zayed Al Nahyan, and the second-youngest of the 19 brothers who rule the country.

"Universities, especially in technical areas and in medicine, and hospitals were among key areas identified today for joint co-operation and investments," secretary (east) in the external affairs ministry, Anil Wadhwa, said.

The focus on hospitals and education as economic sectors for cooperation comes amid a growing concern over a decline in bilateral trade from a high of $75 billion in 2012 to $60 billion now, even though Indian investments in the UAE remain as high as $75 billion.

The UAE remains India's third-largest trading partner - after China and the US - but Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the country last month, declared with the UAE's crown prince that the two countries planned to raise their trade by 60 per cent in five years.

Also during that visit, India and the UAE decided to scale up their strategic partnership.

"India is our only non-oil strategic partner," Al Nahyan said today.

At the meeting today, Sushma and Al Nahyan discussed shared concerns over the growth of the Islamic State and mulled mechanisms for intelligence sharing. The national security advisers of the two countries are also expected to meet soon, according to the blueprint for ties prepared during Modi's visit.

But the thrust of the meeting, officials confirmed, was hard economics - and the changes needed to facilitate the flow of people between the two countries. For India and the UAE to set up universities - including a proposed medical school - and hospitals together in both countries, labour laws in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the other emirates need to be relaxed, Indian officials said.

At present, foreign workers in only nine specialised white-collar professions can change jobs in the UAE with the visa they came on, a restriction which limits the mobility of Indians in that country. And often, employers are accused of withholding the passports of foreign employees.

The panel of experts set up to mull a way out of these restrictions is also expected to suggest how living conditions for Indian workers in the UAE can be improved.