NEW DELHI: India’s foreign secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, attended the focal points meeting along with his counterparts from France and UAE in Paris, taking forward the India-UAE-France trilateral dialogue.
This meeting happens two days after the foreign ministers of India, UAE and France spoke over the phone (on Saturday) to adopt a roadmap for the implementation of a trilateral relationship between the three countries. The areas of cooperation include defence, energy, environment and people-to-people exchanges.
Defence is an area of close cooperation between the three countries. Therefore, efforts will be undertaken to further promote compatibility, joint development and co-production, whilst seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training between the three nations' defence forces.
The three ministers have also agreed that the trilateral would serve as a forum to promote the design and execution of cooperation in projects in the fields of energy, with a focus on solar and nuclear energy as well as fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.
India, UAE and France will work with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to pursue concrete, actionable projects on clean energy, the environment, and biodiversity.
"The trilateral initiative was first thought of (between the three nations) when the three foreign ministers met in person on September 19th 2022 during the sidelines of the UNGA in New York,’’ according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Meanwhile, the trilateral will also seek to strengthen exchanges of views on emerging threats from infectious diseases, as well as on measures to fight against future pandemics. In this regard, cooperation in multilateral organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi-the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, and Unitaid will be encouraged. Further, the three countries will attempt to identify tangible cooperation on implementing the "One Health” approach and support the development of local capacities in biomedical innovation and production within developing countries.
Furthermore, it was agreed that the three countries will seek to ensure greater alignment of their respective economic, technological, and social policies with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
"In support of these endeavours, a range of trilateral events will be organized in the framework of the Indian Presidency of the G20 and the UAE’s hosting of COP-28 in 2023, respectively,’’ MEA added.
The three countries also agreed to expand their cooperation through initiatives such as the Mangrove Alliance for Climate led by the UAE and the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership led by India and France. It was agreed that the three countries should seek to focus on key issues such as single-use plastic pollution, desertification, and food security in the context of the International Year of Millets-2023.