India, France, UAE Establish Trilateral Cooperation Initiative, in fields including Energy, Defence & Economy

India, France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the creation of a formal trilateral cooperation initiative for projects in solar and nuclear energy, the fight against climate change and joint production of military hardware.

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More About India-France-UAE Trilateral Cooperation:

The initiative will also act as a platform to bolster cooperation on sustainable projects between the development agencies of the three countries, which will also work to align their economic, technological and social policies with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, according to a joint statement.

Defence: A Key Area For Cooperation:

While listing defence as an area of close cooperation, the three countries said efforts will be made to “further promote compatibility, and joint development and co-production, whilst seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training” between the armed forces.

A Time-line of India-France-UAE Trilateral Cooperation:

The initiative follows the first meeting of the foreign ministers of India, France and the UAE on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 19, 2022. External affairs minister S Jaishankar and his counterparts from France and the UAE – Catherine Colonna and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan – adopted a roadmap for implementing the initiative.

The three foreign ministers had agreed at their meeting last year to establish the trilateral cooperation initiative in line with the shared desire to promote international stability and prosperity and to build on constructive and collaborative ties between the three countries, the joint statement said.

Focus is On Indian Ocean Region:

The three sides agreed the trilateral initiative will serve as a “forum to promote the design and execution of cooperation projects in the fields of energy, with a focus on solar and nuclear energy, as well as in the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity, particularly in the Indian Ocean region”. In this context, the three countries will explore the possibility of working with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to pursue “concrete, actionable projects on clean energy, the environment, and biodiversity”.

India’s G20 Presidency & Trilateral Co-operation:

In support of the endeavours, a range of trilateral events will be organised in the framework of the Indian Presidency of the G20 and the UAE’s hosting of COP-28 in 2023, respectively.

Other Dimensions of The Trilateral Cooperation:

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.