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April 20, 2023

dubai business skyline

Credit: Ray Munns/Alamy Stock Photo

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined forces with bilateral business groups from India, Israel and the United States to support a new economic partnership between the four countries.

In July 2022, the two governments established the I2U2 Group to pursue joint investments in space, transportation, energy, food security, health and water. It has similarities to the “quad” of Asia-Pacific links between Australia, India, Japan and the United States. I2U2 builds on the Abraham Accords to bring Israel closer to the rest of the region.

The new Memorandum of Agreement between the US-UAE Business Council, the UAE-India Business Council and the UAE-Israel Business Council was signed on April 19 and breaks away from diplomatic arrangements for technology and private sector cooperation. I2U2 plans to convene working group meetings for various industries, publish a series of studies and white papers on these industries, and promote the potential of the group.

The U.S. and the UAE, the U.S. and Israel, and India and Israel all have strong defense trade ties. However, U.S. efforts to sell Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets and General Atomics MQ-9 drones to the UAE have stalled since the Trump administration’s announcement.

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Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s global defense, space and security coverage.