From the global point of view, the status of India is increasing rapidly. India’s economy is the fastest growing economy in the world. Every country is trying to strengthen its partnership with India. It also includes France and the United Arab Emirates.
Under the new methods of diplomacy, India is not only strengthening bilateral partnership with the big powers of the world, but also giving preference to collective participation in small groups. In this episode, the existence of a strong tripartite platform has come to the fore on the international stage, it includes India along with France and the United Arab Emirates i.e. UAE. Under the tripartite framework, all these three countries have agreed to give a new dimension to mutual partnership.
Cooperation under a strong tripartite framework
A strong trilateral cooperation framework has been formed in the form of India, France and the United Arab Emirates. On Saturday (4) February, these three countries identified the major areas of cooperation within this framework and put their outline in front of the world. The alliance between India, France and UAE has been named as Trilateral Cooperation Initiative. The three countries presented an ambitious roadmap for cooperation in the fields of defence, atomic energy and technology. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had a phone conversation on 4 February. During this, the three countries agreed to further strengthen the framework of trilateral cooperation by identifying the areas of cooperation.
Trilateral Cooperation in Defense Sector
A joint statement was issued after talks between the foreign ministers of the three countries. In this, it was believed that defense is the dimension in which the cooperation of the three countries should increase. For this, ways will be found for cooperation and training between the defense forces of the three countries. Along with this, efforts will be made to promote joint development & co-production in the defense sector.
cooperation project in the field of energy
The three countries will increase cooperation in the field of energy through the Trilateral Cooperation Initiative. Focusing on solar and nuclear energy, we will move towards completing projects related to energy together. It has been said in the joint statement that under the tripartite cooperation initiative, projects related to cooperation in solar and nuclear energy will be designed. Along with this, a joint project will also be prepared to deal with the challenges of climate change and protection of biodiversity. For this purpose, the three countries will explore the possibility of working with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The three countries will collaborate on finding concrete, actionable projects on clean energy, the environment and biodiversity. The three countries will enhance the partnership keeping in view their respective economic, technological and social policies with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Meetings and conferences for technical cooperation
It has also been agreed to increase tripartite cooperation in the field of technology. For this, the three countries will increase cooperation between educational and research institutions. High-level technology events such as Vivatech, Bengaluru Tech Summit and GITEX as well as trilateral conferences and meetings will be organized to enhance the possibilities of such collaboration.
Foreign Ministers of the three countries talked on the phone
The three countries have decided that the Trilateral Cooperation Initiative will serve as a platform to expand cooperation between the development agencies of their countries on sustainable projects. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar gave this information by tweeting. He tweeted that he had productive talks with French Foreign Minister Colonna and UAE Foreign Minister Zayed Al Nahyan, taking forward New York’s discussions on practical projects that benefit the region.
Productive conversation with colleagues, French FM @MinColonna and UAE FM @ABZayed today evening.
Took forward discussions of New York on building practical projects that would benefit the region. pic.twitter.com/AY5KNpdhpA
Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 4, 2023
trilateral cooperation framework
The foreign ministers of India, France and the United Arab Emirates met for the first time under the trilateral format on September 19 last year. This meeting was held separately in New York during the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. In this, the three countries had agreed on a formal trilateral cooperation initiative for cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Through this, the aim is to promote international stability and prosperity. Along with this, this initiative was also taken for the purpose of actualizing the shared desire to further the constructive and cooperative relations existing between the three countries. Under this initiative, on February 4, the foreign ministers of the three countries had a phone conversation.
Cooperation in dealing with the epidemic
India, France and the UAE will also share mutual experiences on infectious diseases and ways to combat emerging threats of future pandemics. For this, cooperation in multilateral organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi-the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund and Unitaid will be encouraged. Apart from this, the three countries will adopt the ‘One Health’ approach and work on concrete ways to implement it. It will also support the development of local capabilities in biomedical innovation and production within developing countries.
promote cultural cooperation
All three countries have acknowledged that social and human connectivity has an important role in strengthening the partnership. With this in mind, the Trilateral Initiative will be used as a platform to promote cultural cooperation, including a number of joint projects related to heritage promotion and conservation.
Apart from this, the issues agreed upon are:
1. Promotion of cooperation in food security and economy (with a view to the International Year of Millets 2023)
2. Cooperation on reducing single-use plastic pollution
3. Cooperation in tackling the challenge of desertification
Several tripartite events to be organized in 2023
In order to materialize these efforts, a series of trilateral events will be organized under India’s presidency of the G20 and COP-28 hosting by the United Arab Emirates in 2023. The three countries will expand trilateral cooperation through initiatives such as the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, led by the United Arab Emirates, as well as the Indo-Pacific Parks Partnership, led by India and France. The three countries have also expressed their willingness to cooperate in the field of circular economy under India’s Mission LiFE.
Tripartite meeting was also held in July 2022
In the last few years, India’s bilateral relations with France and the United Arab Emirates have become increasingly widespread. Prior to the meeting in New York, on July 28 last year, the three countries held a joint secretary-level meeting to enhance cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. In it, the three parties had exchanged their views on the Indo-Pacific region and tried to explore the possible areas of trilateral cooperation. These included areas such as maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, blue economy, regional connectivity, cooperation in multilateral fora, energy and food security, innovation and startups, supply chain resilience. Along with this, cultural connectivity and contact between citizens were also considered important from the point of view of increasing cooperation. In the same meeting, the three sides also discussed the future steps to be taken to further the trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
Importance of Trilateral Cooperation Initiative
India, France and the United Arab Emirates share strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region. In view of the growing supremacy of China in the Indo-Pacific region, increasing coordination between India, France and UAE becomes extremely important. All the three countries are different and are strategic partners of each other. All the three countries are also comfortable with each other. There are many such areas among them, in which the cooperation of the three countries can help in fulfilling mutual interests as well. This tripartite framework on the lines of the Quad (India, Japan, US, and Australia) and the I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE, and the US) can prove to be a strong platform for meeting shared agendas. This type of triangular alliance is also proving effective in terms of new and contemporary methods of diplomacy.
The growing diplomatic importance of small groups
In the last few years, India has been involved in I2U2 (India, Israel, UAE and America) as well as India-Japan-U.S. And has been a member of the India-Japan-Italy Trilateral Forum. Such forums have been beneficial in fulfilling mutual interests as well as India’s regional and global interests. India has traditionally stayed away from such small exclusive groups, but given the deteriorating relations with China and the changing situation in the Indo-Pacific region, India is increasingly looking for new ways of diplomacy with like-minded strategic partners. Being a part of the group is also the need of the hour. Diplomacy is changing now. Countries that are not neighbors or are not adjacent to each other in a region, but have some mutual interests, are now working closely with each other.
Strengthening ties with France
France is one of India’s closest strategic partners. Having mutual interests in the Indo-Pacific region serves as the foundation for a trilateral framework with India and the UAE. The way Russia (Soviet Union) used to stand shoulder to shoulder with India in the past, France has shown a similar attitude with India in recent years. Both countries are maritime powers. Both countries have exclusive economic zones in the Indo-Pacific waters. Both also have a growing interest in maritime economy such as blue economy, maritime technology, fisheries, ports and shipping. With this, it is in the interest of both the countries to ensure an independent and secure maritime system in the Indo-Pacific region. There are many areas in which France-India relations are expanding, including the defence, space and nuclear domains.
Relations with UAE are getting stronger
Relations between India and the United Arab Emirates have also expanded over the years. The rapid increase in the number of high-level visits between the two countries in the last 8 years is a testimony to the deepening ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Has traveled to UAE 4 times in the last 8 years. PM Modi has gone there in August 2015, February 2018, August 2019 and June 2022. The joint commission meeting of both the countries has been held 14 times. Last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also visited UAE.
For the first time in 2022, the UAE will participate in the annual Varuna maritime exercise between India and France. Given the convergence of strategic interests and strong bilateral ties, the India-France-UAE trilateral alliance is likely to emerge as a strong pillar shaping the strategic dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region in the times to come.
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