NEW DELHI: Cementing a new four nation arrangement that is being spoken of as yet another “Quad”, this time in the West Asia, the United States, India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to establish a forum for economic cooperation.
During a virtual meeting on Tuesday (October 20, 2021), the foreign minister of four countries discussed possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, technology, maritime security, and economics and trade.
Jaishankar, who is currently on a five-day visit to Israel, was accompanied by his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, during the virtual meeting on Monday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan participated in the meeting virtually.
“The ministers decided to establish an international forum for economic cooperation.” said a statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Minister after the meeting.
It said 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.
The new arrangement has been formed at a time when china has been expanding its infrastructure projects form Asia to Europe to Africa.
At the end of the conversation, it was decided that each minister will appoint senior-level professionals to a joint working group that will formulate options for cooperation in the areas identified by the ministers, the statement said.
The intention is to hold an in-person meeting of the ministers in the coming months at Expo 2020 in Dubai, the statement said.
Jaishankar described the meeting as fruitful and said they discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues.
After the meeting, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said that the ministers decided to create an international forum for economic cooperation. According to the statement, the four ministers discussed possibilities for joint infrastructure projects and additional joint projects in the fields of transport, technology, maritime security and economy and trade.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described the meeting as fruitful and said they discussed economic growth and working together on global issues. He said that I think it is very clear that we all think alike on the big issues of our time.
India, Israel, the US and the UAE have decided to set up an international forum for economic cooperation on the lines of the Quad (QUAD). The purpose of the new forum is to focus on other areas including infrastructure. On the lines of the Quad, a virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries on a single platform will be held in the coming months.
The focus will be on infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transportation, maritime security through an international forum between the four countries for economic cooperation and senior officials will also be appointed for the joint group.