I2U2: QUAD OF THE INDO-PACIFIC
Rajshekhar Hariharan
23 August 2022
"I2U2 Abbreviation stands for India, Israel, UAE and US. ...."
What is I2U2?
I2U2 Abbreviation stands for India, Israel, UAE and US. The group is also referred to as the QUAD of Indo-Pacific. Formerly in October 2021, when our external affairs minister visited Israel he had a meeting with all the other three counterparts of their respective countries. Then the quartet was known by the name of “International Forum for Economic Cooperation”.
Aim of the Group
These countries have come together to enhance multinational cooperation and economic partnership in trade and investment. They have come in unison for harnessing the unleashed potential of our societies and the spirit of entrepreneurship, which will help tackling many challenges that are confronting the world. This will be done by deepening technological and private sector collaborations in the region. The group specifically aims to collaborate on six focus areas like water, energy, transportation, space, and health and food security.
In addition to this, the group intends to mobilize the private sector capital and to modernize infrastructure, reducing the carbon emissions through focusing on green energy, also better access to public health facilities and vaccines, good physical connectivity between the Middle Eastern regions, cater the process of waste management and interlinking the start-ups for investments affiliated to I2U2.
Benefits to BHARAT
There are clear and tangible benefits that BHARAT has being a part of I2U2, starting with the maiden two announcements made by the group: An investment of $2 Billion and technological assistance for the initiatives taken in the field of Agriculture in two Indian States Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. New Delhi has much in interest to the I2U2 group, as it will help deepen and accelerate the ties between Jerusalem and Abu-Dhabi. BHARAT has already been an importer of arms and ammunition supplied by Israel and also UAE is BHARAT’s third largest trading partner.
Also New Delhi has got the opportunity to cooperate with Washington in its own terms, not as a junior ally, but as a self-confident and strategically autonomous partner. Because it is clear that any country in the Indo-Pacific that is competent to secure the trade route and counter china is BHARAT. The US knows this fact pretty well and hence it is trying to deepen the ties through various groupings that benefits BHARAT as well at the end. In terms of Human Resources BHARAT is supreme and this point in particular will be the focus of the other three countries which they will capitalize in terms of Investments, Business, and Technology etc.
These groupings and the benefits BHARAT is having at the moment is a result of a very tweak able and flexible foreign policy which focuses on the National Interest rather than participating in the discussion of do’s and don’ts of other countries. In the longer run as well this group is of utter strategic importance as it will help preventing a strategic encroachment form or affect BHARAT through its immediate neighbors.
References:
1.https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/07/what-you-need-know-about-i2u2