Secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs Dammu Ravi attends I2U2 Sherpas meeting in Abu Dhabi.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The I2U2, a grouping of India, Israel, UAE and the USA, discussed building “integrated agricultural facilities across India” at a meeting in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Dammu Ravi, Secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs, represented India at the the Inaugural I2U2 Business Forum and was joined by UAE Minister of State Ahmed Al-Sayegh, U.S. Under Secretary of State Jose W. Fernandez, and Ronen Levi, Director-General at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The morning concluded with presentations on two major initiatives currently explored under I2U2, including a possible USD 2 billion investment in a project to build a series of integrated agricultural facilities across India and the potential development of a 300 megawatt wind and solar hybrid power plant in the Indian State of Gujarat,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Earlier, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon shed light on the agricultural aspect under the I2U2 during a press conference held here on Wednesday saying that the agricultural facilities under I2U2, which will require land acquisition in India, would be funded by a private entity from the United Arab Emirates.
“In I2U2 land acquisition (in India) will not be by Israel. I believe it’s a UAE company that’s leading this project on land (acquisition). Israel hopes to be a technology partner afterwards, in developing the land,” Mr. Gilon said in response to a question from The Hindu.
The agriculture project of $2 billion was announced by the four-power grouping last July after the first virtual summit among the leaders of the I2U2 which was attended by U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. The Ministry of External Affairs had announced back then that the governments of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and other States expressed interest to participate in the agriculture project that would require acquisition of high-quality agriculture land.
In keeping with the stated objectives of the grouping, the inaugural I2U2 Business Forum brought together “senior private and public sector representatives from India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States” who discussed opportunities for cooperation between the business communities of the four countries.
On Wednesday India joined the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate which was started by the UAE and the U.S. at COP-26 in an initiative that covers Israel and “140 other governmental and non-governmental entities”.
Mr. Ravi made a “strong pitch” seeking “tangible progress” in “all I2U2 initiatives, including setting up an I2U2 Innovation Centre in Gurugram”, the Ministry said.
