India to tie up with France, UAE for defence, nuclear energy, tech

India, France and the UAE on Saturday unveiled an ambitious roadmap for cooperation in areas of defence, nuclear energy and technology under a trilateral framework.

After a phone conversation among their foreign ministers, a joint statement said the three sides agreed that 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.

“It was acknowledged that defence is an area of close cooperation between the three countries. Therefore, efforts will be undertaken to further promote compatibility, and joint development and co-production, whilst seeking out avenues for further collaboration and training between the three countries’ defence forces,” it said.

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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.

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“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,” it said. They decided to boost cooperation in food security and circular economy and vowed to focus on key issues such as tackling single-use plastic pollution and desertification.

“Further, the three countries will attempt to identify tangible cooperation on implementing the ‘One Health’ approach, and support the development of local capacities in biomedical innovation and production within developing countries,” it added.