‘West Asian Quad’ to hold meet in March

THE FOREIGN MINISTERS ARE EXPECTED TO HOLD THEIR MEETING ON THE MARGINS OF EXPO 2020 IN DUBAI

NEW DELHI: The new grouping of India, Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to hold the first in-person meeting of foreign ministers in March 2022 to take forward an agenda focused on economic cooperation and infrastructure projects.

The foreign ministers of the group, described in some quarters as a “West Asian Quad”, are expected to hold their meeting on the margins of Expo 2020 in Dubai, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The four countries have begun working on specific projects that could be taken up at the meet.

The foreign ministers of the four countries held their first virtual meeting on October 18 and decided to establish an international forum for economic cooperation. They also discussed ways to expand economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia and to enhance maritime security.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who was visiting Israel at the time, joined the meeting with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid from Jerusalem.

Jaishankar had said at the time that the four countries were looking to an “expeditious follow-up” to their first meeting.

The four countries have insisted that the new grouping, which does not yet have a formal name, does not have a military element and is not directed against any country. Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon recently said there is no military angle to the ongoing cooperation and the four sides were pursuing a constructive agenda focused on the economy, especially infrastructure projects.

The four countries have appointed senior officials to a joint working group that will come up with options for cooperation, the people cited above said.

The meeting held in October had built on the momentum created by the Abraham Accords of last year.