US welcomes India joining Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate

Washington [US], February 23 (ANI)

The United States welcomed the announcement by India that it will join the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate, according to the press statement from the US Department of State.

US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez who was in Abu Dhabi for the I2U2 Business Forum welcomed the Secretary (Economic Relations) Dammu Ravi in the Ministry of External Affairs signing a letter expressing the Indian Government's intention to join the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C). "The US and the United Arab Emirates launched AIM4C in November 2021. AIM4C seeks to increase investment in and support innovation in climate-smart agriculture and food systems. The AIM4C initiative has successfully increased these investments to more than 8 billion US dollars globally," the statement read.

"With today's announcement, India joins more than 275 partners, including 42 governments, who are working to collectively advance AIM4C's mission by supporting investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation," the statement added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ravi attended India-Israel-UAE-US (I2U2) Sherpas meeting held in Abu Dhabi.

During the meeting, Sherpas reiterated their commitment to the I2U2 partnership and reviewed progress in all the existing and prospective I2U2 projects.

I2U2 Grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries held on 18 October 2021.

Each country also has Sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss the possible areas of cooperation.

It is also referred to as the 'West Asian Quad' and was referred to as the 'International Forum for Economic Cooperation back in 2021.

I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas - Water, Energy, Transportation, Space, Health and Food security.

It intends to mobilize private sector capital and expertise to help modernize the infrastructure, and low-carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.

Technology is a prominent area in all the partner countries.

Israel and India are having widening start-up ecosystems in their respective countries.

UAE is also looking to divert from an oil-based economy to a technology-based economy.

Food security is an area where these countries can work together to reduce the consequences of food shortage issues.

Security and defence cooperation is also of prime importance to the grouping.

India and the US are already members of the QUAD and India has individual bilateral defence cooperation with each country.

The I2U2 can give a boost to trade and connectivity among the partners