Dubai: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received the United Arab Emirates' highest civilian honour during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf nation.

Modi's induction into the Order of Zayed shows the importance the UAE places on India, the world's third-largest consumer of crude oil, even as the Indian leader pursues stripping statehood from the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

India is home to a rapidly growing consumer market and labour pool that the UAE relies on for its own economy.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, receives a medal during his induction to the Order of Zayed from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Credit:WAM/AP

Activists, however, decried the UAE bestowing the award on Modi as he pursues a clampdown on the Himalayan region claimed by both Pakistan and India. Modi later travelled to Bahrain to become the first Indian premier to visit the island nation.