Jaishankar says it was a fruitful first meeting.
In Israel on a five-day visit, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar took part in a new quadrilateral grouping comprising the foreign ministers of Israel, United Arab Emirates and the United States on Monday.
The quadrilateral, which followed his bilateral meeting with Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, is a grouping that builds on ongoing cooperation between the U.S.-Israel-the UAE after the Abraham Accords last year that saw the UAE and Israel establish diplomatic ties, and the India-Israel-the UAE cooperation that has been launched since then.
Also read: India and the Abraham Accords
Mr. Jaishankar said it was a fruitful first meeting with Mr. Lapid, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. His tweet added, ‘Discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues. Agreed on expeditious follow-up.’
Mr. Lapid said the virtual meeting decided to “establish an international forum for economic cooperation and discussed possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in a wide range of fields”.
In an interesting aside, Mr. Jaishankar’s travel to Israel is also routed via the UAE, on flights that started as a consequence of the Abraham Accords and the opening of diplomatic missions and flights between them.
The foreign ministers discussed “future opportunities for collaboration in the region and globally”, U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
“The Secretary and the foreign 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. Secretary Blinken and the 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,” he stated after the meeting that lasted over an hour and ended late on Monday evening.
Washington meeting
Foreign ministers of the U.S., Israel and the UAE met in Washington on October 13 to discuss the modalities of trilateral cooperation, and set up two working groups: on religious coexistence and on water and energy.
Business groups in India, the UAE and Israel have been in talks for cooperation since diplomatic ties were established, and the International Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce (IFIIC) has predicted that the potential for agreements backed by Israeli innovation, UAE funding and Indian manufacturing, given India’s close ties and strategic partnership with the two other countries could cross $100 billion by 2030.
In the first such venture, a UAE project for robotic solar (panel) cleaning technology was signed by Israeli company Ecoppia that has a manufacturing base in India.
No mention of Palestine
Significantly, neither the quadrilateral meeting nor the trilateral meeting discussed the issue of Palestine and the resumption of the “Middle East peace process”, although the Joe Biden administration has expressed support for a “two-state solution”, which is in line with India’s broader position.
On Monday, Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Lapid held bilateral talks, agreeing to resume long-pending negotiations for a free trade agreement, a mutual recognition agreement on COVID-19 vaccine certificates, beginning with Israeli acceptance of Indian travellers vaccinated with Covishield, and Israel joining the International Solar Alliance.
