Jerusalem/New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) Signalling a new four-way cooperation, the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the US and UAE agreed to establish an international forum for economic cooperation and discussed the possibilities for joint projects in the field of infrastructure, technology, transport and maritime security, during their video conference on Monday evening.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in Jerusalem, along with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, during their first-ever virtual conference together, also agreed to hold an in-person meeting at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
According to an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement, Lapid, who initiated the meeting during his visit to Washington, said “I think the word we’re looking for here is synergy, because this is what we’re going to try and create starting with this meeting.
“Synergy that will help us work together on infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transport, maritime security and other things that preoccupy us all.”
“The key to success is how quickly can we move from ‘government-to-government’ to ‘business-to-business’?” How quickly can we turn this into a working process that will put boots on the ground, changing infrastructure around the world,” he emphasized.
The four ministers held a discussion on possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, technology, maritime security, and economics and trade, as well as for additional joint projects.
They also decided that each minister will appoint senior-level professionals to a joint working group that will formulate options for cooperation in the aforementioned areas.
Jaishankar in a tweet said the four ministers discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues and agreed on expeditious follow-up.
“A fruitful first meeting with Israeli APM and FM @YairLapid, UAE FM
@ABZayed and US Secretary of State @SecBlinken this evening.
“Discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues. Agreed on expeditious follow-up,” he posted.
Blinken in a tweet said the meeting focused on “shared issues of concern in the region and globally, and the importance of expanding our economic and political collaboration”.
The US State Department, in a readout, said the four ministers “discussed expanding economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia, including through trade, combating climate change, energy cooperation, and increasing maritime security”.
The four ministers “also discussed people to people ties in technology and science, and how to support global public health in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Secretary of State Blinken “reiterated the Biden Administration’s support for the Abraham Accords and normalization agreements and discussed future opportunities for collaboration in the region and globally", the readout said.
The meeting comes a year after the signing of the Abraham Accords and signals the keenness of Israel and the UAE to make the most of their new cooperation along with like-minded countries, the US and India.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, answering a question on the meeting at a briefing on Monday, said, “This is a collection of four countries, the US, the UAE, Israel and India, with whom we share many interests.
"It was an opportunity for the ministers to discuss a range of topics, including expanding economic and political cooperation in their respective regions; they discussed climate change, energy cooperation, maritime security, a whole range of issues,” he said.
The meeting comes days after the first trilateral summit between the UAE, Israel and the US, was held in Washington, during which the formation of working groups on religious co-existence, water and energy issues was announced.
In the spirit of the Abraham Accords, US Secretary of State Blinken and UAE Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Israel's Yair Lapid met over dinner at the residence of the UAE ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba, on Wednesday night.
The dinner coincided with the first anniversary of the Abraham accords that normalised relations between the UAE and Israel.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has stated in recent weeks that the US is pushing for international cooperation agreements based on the Abraham Accords and would work to get additional countries to sign similar deals with Israel.
Israel has said that it wants India to play a greater role in the Middle East’s emerging strategic landscape. Israel’s Foreign Secretary Alon Ushpiz has said Israel wants to incorporate India into the opportunities emerging in the region.
The meeting also comes after a trilateral trade deal between India, Israel and the UAE in April this year, in the first such inked after the Abraham Accords. India is a close partner of the UAE and Israel.
With the four countries coming together to collaborate on key global and regional issues, talk of a new Quad on the block is doing the rounds.
UNI/RN