New Quad between India, Israel, UAE, US has no military component: Envoy Gilon

New Delhi, Oct 28: Israel's new Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Thursday said that the new quadrilateral economic forum between India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US has no military component and the emphasis in only economy and infrastructure.

 

In the first four-nations virtual meeting earlier this month, the Foreign Ministers of the four countries discussed possible joint infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, technology, maritime security, and trade. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar took part in a quadrilateral grouping, including Foreign Ministers of Israel, United Arab Emirates and the United States. Jaishankar termed his first meeting with the Foreign Ministers of the US, UAE, and Israel as 'fruitful'.

 

The new Quad is built on ongoing cooperation between the US-Israel-UAE after the Abraham Accords last year that saw UAE and Israel establish diplomatic ties, and the India-Israel-UAE cooperation that has been launched since then.

 

 

On the question of whether this new forum is against Iran, Gilon replied that that cooperation is to promote something positive. "I don't think the cooperation is against Iran. Cooperation is to promote something positive and not to create something negative against someone else. .. There is no military element in this cooperation."

 

Answering a question of the emergence of the new Quad in the middle east, ambassador Gilon said, "I think there is a lot of synergy between India, UAE and Israel because you have a lot of companies in UAE led by Indians and most of the biggest companies have representations there. So this is one link."

 

 

The envoy said that the new quad has been created as a practical deal-making forum and not a symbolic one. "Together with Israel; with the manufacturing ability of India; the technological ability of UAE and along with the money... this should be a big success. ...We hope not to keep this as a symbolic forum but a practical deal-making forum," he said.