WASHINGTON: Food security will be the main topic of the first-ever summit of a new West Asia-focused quadrilateral made up of Israel, the US, India, and the UAE, which will virtually take place this week during President Joe Biden's visit to the region.
The US and the UAE are the two US in the new Quad, which was introduced in October 2021 and goes by the abbreviation I2U2. Its stated mission is to deepen political and economic ties between West Asia and Asia.
During his four-day visit to Israel starting on Wednesday, Biden will engage in a virtual four-way with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, and President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed.
The third four-country organisation with the US as a member to be established recently is the West Asia Quad. The other quads include the one the US creates with Japan, Australia, India, and the one that resulted from collaboration between these nations following the tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean in 2004. The third quad is made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.
Jake Sullivan, the US national security advisor, briefed White House reporters on the impending visit on Monday. Sullivan stated that Biden will "conduct a four way virtual summit with the leaders of Israel, the UAE, and India with an emphasis on food security." But there were no inquiries about the Quad for Sullivan.
His boss, Biden, has already come under fire from inside his own Democratic party for his impending meeting with bin Salman. They contend that the meeting represents a significant change of direction for him and other Saudi Arabian opponents. When he ran for president, he pledged to declare Saudi Arabia a "pariah" nation because of its horrendous record on human rights.
Amitabh Kant delegation meet in Indonesia to discusses food, energy security