A $2 billion food security proposal, which calls for the establishment of agricultural parks in India with finance from the UAE, is expected to be unveiled by the new alliance of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US (I2U2) on Thursday during its inaugural virtual summit.
For the I2U2 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend alongside US President Joe Biden, President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and President of Israel Yair Lapid. Biden is visiting West Asia for the first time as president at the time of the summit.
A senior US government official told reporters on Wednesday that the I2U2 Summit will focus on the present issue of food security and that “a $2 billion project, which the UAE is helping to fund, for agricultural parks in India” as well as other initiatives will be announced at the gathering.
According to the official, the project will receive some support from the US private sector and scientific assistance from Israel.
At the conference, there will be a “major announcement surrounding food security and agricultural technology,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also told reporters on Wednesday. He continued that this is a place “where all four nations may come together to assist deal with an acute catastrophe threatening the entire world.”
Sullivan said when asked what the US hoped to accomplish by include India in agreements like the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and I2U2: “So, first, India plays a crucial role in the Indo-Pacific. It is also one of the biggest, most important, and most strategically significant nations in the Indo-Pacific, thus it should be a key component of our strategy, including the Quad.
India, according to Sullivan, also maintains close ties with the Middle East, as well as contacts with Israel and the Gulf States.
Consequently, he said, “India has a role to play in that as well, just as the US can play a key and central role in assisting with deepening Israel’s integration into the region.”
Israel, India, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, each of which has distinctive agricultural technology capabilities, can be brought together to increase food production and address the problem of food security, according to Sullivan. As he added, I2U2 can “become a feature of the broader region, just as the Quad has become a central pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States,” this also satisfies Biden’s vision of a “more integrated, more globally engaged Middle East” that isn’t just focused on issues like terrorism and wars.
According to the senior US government official, Israel and India would act as hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship that will support I2U2’s efforts to address the problem of food security.
According to the official, I2U2 will bring together nations, governments, and the corporate sector to address issues.
At a virtual summit of the four nations’ foreign ministers last October, I2U2 was founded as an international forum for economic cooperation. These nations have said that their collaboration has no military component and that it is centered on the economy, particularly infrastructure projects.
