Sheikh Mohammed turns 71

Our Correspondent
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai celebrated his 71st birthday on July 15.
UAE residents took to social media to pay respects to Sheikh Mohammed, with well-wishers lauding him as the “pride of the nation” and an “inspiration of generations” of Emiratis.
The emirate of Dubai owes a good part of its glamorous development to Sheikh Mohammed, who became Dubai’s ruler in 2006 after the death of his older brother Sheikh Maktoum. He had since then continued the work of his father, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, transforming Dubai into a global tourist destination and business hub.
Like his father, Sheikh Mohammed was keen on establishing Dubai as a commercial and trading centre after the collapse of the pearl industry and before the discovery of oil.
At the age of four, he was privately tutored in Arabic and Islamic studies. He began formal education at the age of six; 11 years later, he attended an English language school in Cambridge. He went on to attend a cadet school in Aldershot, which later became part of Sandhurst. He then went to Italy to be trained as a pilot.
In January 1968, at the age of 19, he accompanied his father to meet Sheikh Zayed in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi to discuss forming a union of the seven emirates. He became the nation’s first Minister of Defence in 1971 following the formation of the UAE.