Take aways for India : I2U2.

The first summit of I2U2 - India, Israel, the US and the UAE - took place virtually, yesterday coinciding with the visit of the US President to Israel.

After summit discussions with President Biden (US), PM Yair Lapid (Israel) and President Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE), PM Modi had announced that the group has identified joint projects and prepared a roadmap to move forward covering six key areas viz.:-

      * Water

      * Energy

      * Transport

      * Space

      * Health and 

      * Food Security.

The PM's home state, Gujarat will be the biggest beneficiary of the investments announced during the Summit, which include :-

      * $ 2 billion on developing food parks

      * $ 300 million to set up an advanced hybrid renewable energy project.  

The UAE has committed to invest $ 2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India that will incorporate climate smart technologies to reduce food waste and spoilage, conserve fresh water and employ renewable energy resources. The initial list of food grown under this include bananas, potatoes, rice and onions. This will help the small and marginal farmers and also generate employment opportunities. The two states that have shown interest in this are Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

US and Israeli private sectors will lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions like hydroponics that would contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximise crop yields and in turn, help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and West Asia.

My take

More countries have shown an affinity to work closely with India, on various projects, probably because they realise that their efforts would yield positive results because of the existing environment and nurture long standing friendships!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Earlier, Lekha had groomed me. Kittu, these days, shows a reluctance to go away from the house.

Lekha and her sister went to the Rani Menon's Eye Hospital at Ayyanthole to get the latter's treatment done. They left around a half past 12 and returned by a quarter to 6.

A quiet evening as I got ready for my move tomorrow.