If you consider the case of Princess Latifa, it's clearly more the case that India has become an informal colony of the UAE.
She had fled Dubai and taken a yacht from the coast of Oman, and was in international waters when Indian commandos stormed the yacht, took her prisoner and returned her to Dubai.
Just to put things in perspective:
National GDP
India $3.54 trillion
UAE $0.5 trillion
GDP per capita
India $2,601
UAE $50,349
I guess the relationship is similar to the one between Singapore and the Philippines, where a lot of Singaporeans get their servants from the Philippines.