Signalling a new four-way cooperation between India, Israel, the US and UAE, their foreign ministers held a virtual meeting during which they discussed working closely together on key economic and global issues, especially in the Middle East and Asia.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in Jerusalem, along with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, joined US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, in a virtual conference on Monday to discuss cooperation on issues including trade, combating climate change, energy cooperation, and maritime security.
The first-of-its-kind conference was closed to the media.
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.