 Al-Qasimi is an Indophile, has made numerous visits to India in his private capacity and even speaks the Malayalam language, albeit haltingly.His abiding interest and affinity for India has been attributed to the fact that as a child, he was raised by a Malayali nanny from Kerala and picked up the Malayalam language from her.Sheikh Sultan succeeded his brother, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, as Emir after his assassination on 25 January 1972.