I2U2 summit: UAE to fund agri parks in India with support from Israel and US private sector

The government of the United Arab Emirates and the private sector of the United States will invest in a $2 billion project to set up agricultural parks in India with technical support from Israel.

The project is likely to be announced at the first I2U2 summit which will be held later on Thursday. The summit will see the leaders of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States exploring joint initiatives to contribute to food security around the world amid disruptions in the global supply chain for agricultural products due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, will virtually join President Joe Biden of the US and Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel for a summit, which will launch a new four-nation bloc called I2U2. The leaders of the four nations will discuss cooperation in agricultural technology as well as for ensuring global food security.

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“There will be a significant announcement around food security and agricultural technology, which is an area where all four countries can come together to help deal with an immediate crisis facing the entire world,” Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, told journalists aboard the ‘Air Force One’, the special aircraft of the US president, en route to Tel Aviv.

The food prices around the world skyrocketed over the past few months as Russia deployed warships to block grain exports from Ukraine’s port on the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Turkey, however, on Wednesday hosted talks among representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations. The Turkish government later claimed to have made some progress towards resuming supply of grains from the ports of the East European nation.

Biden is on his maiden tour to Israel after taking over as the US president in January 2021. He and his host Lapid will later in the day virtually join Modi and Mohamed bin Zayed for the first I2U2 (Israel, India, US, UAE) summit.

“And we’ll have a $2 billion project, which the UAE is helping to fund, for agricultural parks in India, which is focused on the food security challenge, among some other things that will be announced,” a senior US official said, adding: “We’ll have some more details about it tomorrow (July 15). Israel is lending some of its technological expertise apart from some support from the US private sector.”

The I2U2 was conceived when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in October 2021 and joined his then counterpart in the Government of Israel, Yair Lapid, to hold a virtual meeting with Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Minister of the UAE.

Lapid later took over as the Prime Minister on July 1 last, succeeding Naftali Bennett.

Sullivan cited India’s long-standing ties and engagement in the Middle East when he was asked by a journalist why the US wanted the South Asian nation to be a part of the new bloc being informally called the “West Asian Quad”. He also referred to India’s relationships not just with the Gulf countries, but also with Israel. “And, so just as the United States can play a critical and central role in helping deepen Israel’s integration into the region, India has a role to play in that as well.”

“So bringing together Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates, especially around an issue where the four countries have unique capacities on agricultural technology, leading to greater food production and an alleviation of the food security challenge — this is the kind of thing that really fulfils the President’s (Joe Biden’s) vision of a more integrated, more globally engaged Middle East across the board,” said the US National Security Advisor.

He also added that the US was keen to take its engagement with Israel and the rest of Middle East beyond the one focussed only on terrorism and wars. “This is a different kind of approach, and it’s about expanding partnerships, expanding the geography rather than contracting or narrowing it,” said the US NSA.

He said that the I2U2 could become a feature of the broader region, just as the Quad had become a central pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategy of the US.

The Quad is a coalition forged by India, Australia, Japan and the US to counter China’s expansionist aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region.

The I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding: “It intends to mobilise private sector capital and expertise to help modernise the infrastructure, low carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies”.

India's move to join the US, the UAE and Israel in the new bloc reflected its keenness to take advantage of the Abraham Accords to deepen engagement with Israel without risking its relations with the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf.