India, France and UAE unveil plans for cooperation: trilateral framework

New Delhi: India, France and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday unveiled an ambitious roadmap for cooperation in a plethora of areas including defence, energy and technology under a trilateral framework, a move that comes amid the geopolitical turmoil triggered by the conflict in Ukraine.The plan was finalised during a phone conversation among External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his French counterpart Catherine Colonna and UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
A joint statement said it was acknowledged that defence is an area of close cooperation between the three countries.
The foreign ministers noted that the trilateral initiative will serve as a platform to expand cooperation between their countries’ development agencies on sustainable projects.The three foreign ministers met on September 19 last year for the first time in a trilateral format on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.In the meeting, they agreed to establish a formal trilateral cooperation initiative to expand cooperation in various fields of mutual interest.
“It is in this context that a phone call between the three ministers was held today to adopt a roadmap for the implementation of this initiative,” the statement said.