Biden says he ‘strongly supports’ Abraham Accords
UAE’s $2 billion and US, Israel tech for India food parks
New Delhi: Four-nation grouping ‘I2U2’ has established a positive agenda and its framework is a good model for practical cooperation in the face of increasing global uncertainties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday at the first virtual summit of the coalition. The I2U2 leaders also reaffirmed their “support for the Abraham Accords and other peace and normalization arrangements with Israel”.
The Abraham Accords are a joint statement between the State of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. The statement marks the first public normalization of relations between an Arab country and Israel since that of Jordan in 1994.
I2U2 stands for India, Israel, the UAE, and the US. The grouping was established as an international forum for economic cooperation but few experts view it as, the “West Asian Quad”. The first ever I2U2 leaders’ meeting was attended virtually on Thursday by US President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and PM Modi. “We have identified joint projects in many areas, and have also prepared a roadmap to move forward in them,” PM Modi said in his virtual address.
President Joe Biden said, “The challenges we face today include accelerating climate crisis or growing food insecurity, volatile energy markets made worse by Russia’s brutal and unprovoked attack against Ukraine.”
The Joint statement stated, “We welcome the economic opportunities that flow from these historic developments, including for the advancement of economic cooperation in the Middle East and South Asia, and in particular for the promotion of sustainable investment amongst the I2U2 partners.”
I2U2 particularly focuses on joint investments and new initiatives in water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. The I2U2 group will also advance a hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat consisting of 300 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar capacity, complemented by a battery energy storage system, the joint statement said. It was also announced that UAE will invest $2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India.
