$2 billion
A joint statement by the four leaders said the UAE will invest $2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India, incorporating state-of-the-art climate-smart technologies to reduce food waste, conserve fresh water and employ renewable energy sources.
In his remarks, Biden said the UAE’s investment to develop integrated agricultural parks across India with the support of the American and Israeli private sector experts has the potential to sustainably increase India’s food yields by “threefold in just five years”.
The formation of the grouping, known as ‘I2U2’ with “I” standing for India and Israel and “U” for the US and UAE, is largely seen as a strategic attempt by the US to check China’s increasing influence in Asia and the Middle East.
In opening his remarks, Modi said the ‘I2U2’ has established a “positive” agenda in its first summit itself and that it would make an important contribution in areas of energy security, food security and economic growth.
“It is clear that the vision and agenda of “I2U2” is progressive and practical.
By mobilising the mutual strengths of our countries — capital, expertise and markets — we can accelerate our agenda, and contribute significantly to the global economy,” he said.
“Our cooperative framework is also a good model for practical cooperation in the face of increasing global uncertainties,” he said.
Asserting that the group has a clear agenda, Lapid said “this is not a philanthropic group. We want to change the world for the better, but we are also creating relative advantages for our countries, for our businesses, for our science sector.”
The UAE President said “our whole team will be a model for those who desire peace and prosperity and will provide evidence for the great opportunity ...squandered by blind extremism at the expense of people eager to live a good life,” comments seen as directed at Iran.
The joint statement mentioned that the ‘I2U2’ group will advance a hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat consisting of 300 megawatts of wind and solar capacity, to be complemented by a battery energy storage system.
The US Trade and Development Agency funded a feasibility study for the $330 million project and UAEbased companies are exploring opportunities to serve as critical knowledge and investment partners. can be repaired in case of minor glitches.
“Fortunately, in our country, there exists a vibrant repair service sector and third-party repairs, including those who cannibalise the products for providing spare parts for circular economy,” the statement said.
According to the statement, once rolled out in India, the framework will become a “game-changer” for the sustainability of the products and serve as a catalyst for employment generation through Aatmanirbhar Bharat by allowing thirdparty repairs.
The committee includes Anupam Mishra, Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Justice Paramjeet Singh Dhaliwal, former Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Former President of State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Punjab, G.S. Bajpai Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, Professor Ashok Patil, Chair of Consumer Law and Practice.
Representatives from various stakeholders like ICEA, SIAM, consumer activists and consumer organizations are also members.