UAE to invest $2 billion to set up food parks in India with Israel’s technical support

News Network
July 14, 2022

park.jpg

The government of the United Arab Emirates and the private sector of the United States will invest in a $2 billion project to set up agricultural parks in India with technical support from Israel.

The project is likely to be announced at the first I2U2 summit which will be held later on Thursday. The summit will see the leaders of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States exploring joint initiatives to contribute to food security around the world amid disruptions in the global supply chain for agricultural products due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, will virtually join President Joe Biden of the US and Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel for a summit, which will launch a new four-nation bloc called I2U2. The leaders of the four nations will discuss cooperation in agricultural technology as well as for ensuring global food security.

 “There will be a significant announcement around food security and agricultural technology, which is an area where all four countries can come together to help deal with an immediate crisis facing the entire world,” Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, told journalists aboard the ‘Air Force One’, the special aircraft of the US president, en route to Tel Aviv.

The food prices around the world skyrocketed over the past few months as Russia deployed warships to block grain exports from Ukraine’s port on the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Turkey, however, on Wednesday hosted talks among representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations. The Turkish government later claimed to have made some progress towards resuming supply of grains from the ports of the East European nation.

Biden is on his maiden tour to Israel after taking over as the US president in January 2021. He and his host Lapid will later in the day virtually join Modi and Mohamed bin Zayed for the first I2U2 (Israel, India, US, UAE) summit.

“And we’ll have a $2 billion project, which the UAE is helping to fund, for agricultural parks in India, which is focused on the food security challenge, among some other things that will be announced,” a senior US official said, adding: “We’ll have some more details about it tomorrow (July 15). Israel is lending some of its technological expertise apart from some support from the US private sector.”

The I2U2 was conceived when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in October 2021 and joined his then counterpart in the Government of Israel, Yair Lapid, to hold a virtual meeting with Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Minister of the UAE.

Lapid later took over as the Prime Minister on July 1 last, succeeding Naftali Bennett.

Sullivan cited India’s long-standing ties and engagement in the Middle East when he was asked by a journalist why the US wanted the South Asian nation to be a part of the new bloc being informally called the “West Asian Quad”. He also referred to India’s relationships not just with the Gulf countries, but also with Israel. “And, so just as the United States can play a critical and central role in helping deepen Israel’s integration into the region, India has a role to play in that as well.”

“So bringing together Israel, India, and the United Arab Emirates, especially around an issue where the four countries have unique capacities on agricultural technology, leading to greater food production and an alleviation of the food security challenge — this is the kind of thing that really fulfils the President’s (Joe Biden’s) vision of a more integrated, more globally engaged Middle East across the board,” said the US National Security Advisor.

He also added that the US was keen to take its engagement with Israel and the rest of Middle East beyond the one focussed only on terrorism and wars. “This is a different kind of approach, and it’s about expanding partnerships, expanding the geography rather than contracting or narrowing it,” said the US NSA.

He said that the I2U2 could become a feature of the broader region, just as the Quad had become a central pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategy of the US.

The Quad is a coalition forged by India, Australia, Japan and the US to counter China’s expansionist aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region.

The I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding: “It intends to mobilise private sector capital and expertise to help modernise the infrastructure, low carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies”.

India's move to join the US, the UAE and Israel in the new bloc reflected its keenness to take advantage of the Abraham Accords to deepen engagement with Israel without risking its relations with the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 26,2025

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that he was not being given a chance to speak in the House which was being run in a "non-democratic style", and said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had made "unsubstantiated" remarks about him.

Gandhi's remarks came after Birla asked him to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House. It was not immediately clear what was the reason for the Speaker to make the observation.

The former Congress president said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak.

"The Speaker just got up and left. He did not allow me to speak a word. He was speaking about me, and I don't know what he said about me, all unsubstantiated. I said, 'let me speak as you have spoken about me', but he did not say a word and just left. He adjourned the House when there was no need of it," the former Congress president said.

About 70 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, including deputy leader of Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, party general secretary KC Venugopal and party's whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, met the Lok Sabha speaker and raised the "denial" of opportunity to Gandhi to speak in the House.

Speaking with reporters in Parliament House complex, Gandhi said there is a convention that the Leader of Opposition is allowed to speak, but whenever he gets up to speak, he is not allowed to speak.

"So, in what manner is this House being run? We are not being allowed to speak. I have not done anything, I was sitting quietly, I did not speak anything. In the last 7-8 days, I have not been allowed to speak," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

In a democracy, the opposition has a place, and the government has its own place but here there is no place for the opposition, he alleged.

Gandhi said he wanted to speak on Maha Kumbh last week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a statement on it but he was not allowed to speak.

"I wanted to state that it is good that Kumbh happened, and I wanted to speak about unemployment, but I was not allowed to speak. I don't know what thinking or approach does the Speaker have but the truth is we are not being allowed to speak. It (the House) is being run in a non-democratic style," Gandhi claimed.

Earlier, in his remarks, the Speaker said members are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the high standards and dignity of the House.

"Several instances have come to my notice where the conduct of members does not conform to the high standards," the Speaker said.

"In this House, father and daughter, mother and daughter, husband and wife have been members. In this context, I expect the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself in accordance with Rule 349 that deals with rules to be observed by members in the House," the Speaker said.

"Especially, it is expected of the Leader of the Opposition to conduct himself as per the rules," the Speaker said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 7,2025

rafahcity.jpg

Rafah, a city along the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, has entirely been “wiped off the map” by Israel’s brutal campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, says the Gaza government media office.

The media office said Sunday in a statement on X that the southern city of Gaza has entirely been demolished to make way for Israel to turn it into a “closed military operations zone."

The statement said Israel’s military forces have been carrying out “horrific massacres against defenseless civilians” in Rafah, creating a “full-fledged humanitarian disaster.”

According to the officials, Israeli forces have destroyed over 90% of homes—more than 20,000 buildings in Rafah.

All of the historical buildings, archaeological sites, museums, modern homes, the civilian infrastructure, the shops, cafes, restaurants, hospitals, schools, and universities have been demolished.

The officials said the regime's forces have also demolished 22 of 24 water wells, including a large water treatment plant and facility that was built 25 years ago by the Canadian government.

“Tens of thousands of families” are now without safe drinking water, and over 85% of the sewage system has been destroyed, raising fears of disease outbreaks, said the statement.

At least 12 medical centers are out of service, including Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, which was reportedly blown up by an explosive robot.

Rafah is “uninhabitable,” now, the media office said.

The Israeli military’s goal, it said, is to “empty the land of its people and alter its geographic and demographic features.”

Rafah, a city that was built over 3,300 years ago, had a population of 171,889. As recently as February, 1.4 million Palestinians took shelter there as a result of Israel’s forced displacement of the population in northern parts of the besieged enclave.

The city, which was once designated as a "safe zone" by Israel's military, has now been reduced to rubble. The regime's military has now seized the ruins of Rafah and ordered every survivor out, to expand its "security buffer zone" along Gaza's borders.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 6,2025

trumpzion.jpg

In a country that brands itself the “Land of the Free,” pro-Palestine students are being treated like enemies of the state. The United States—once hailed as a beacon for academic freedom—is now using deportation threats, visa revocations, and AI surveillance to silence dissenting voices on its university campuses. What started as peaceful protest against the genocide in Gaza has turned into a full-scale purge of international students who dare to speak out. As global outrage grows, America's hypocrisy on free speech has never been more glaring—or dangerous.

Point-by-Point Summary:

•    Momodou Taal Forced Out:
British-Gambian activist and former Cornell PhD student Momodou Taal has left the U.S. after facing threats of deportation. His only “crime”: suing the Trump administration for policies targeting pro-Palestine students.

•    Bold Words from Exile:
Taal called out the U.S. for suppressing dissent and ignoring its own laws:
“Is imprisoning those who speak against genocide the kind of nation you want?”

•    300+ Visas Revoked:
Trump-era directives have led to mass deportations of foreign students who participated in or supported Gaza solidarity protests.

•    Rubio's Harsh Justification:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, calling student protesters “lunatics” and stressing the government’s right to “remove you from our country.”

•    ACLU Slams Hypocrisy:
ACLU's Ben Wizner warned that the U.S. is now driving away the world’s brightest minds by criminalizing intellectual dissent.

•    Targeted Individuals:

•    Iranian student Alireza Doroudi arrested without cause.

•    Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk lost her visa for an op-ed criticizing the Israeli regime.

•    Indian scholar Ranjani Srinivasan fled after agents showed up unannounced.

•    Korean resident Yunseo Chung, a green card holder, is still fighting deportation.

•    Professor Rasha Alawieh was deported despite holding a valid visa.

•    AI Used for Surveillance:
Reports confirm U.S. authorities are using artificial intelligence to flag students based on social media activity—even likes or shares.

•    Selective Freedom:
No pro-Israel lobbyist or supporter has faced deportation, even amid cases of inciting violence and harassment.

•    Global Consequences:
Calls to boycott U.S. universities are growing. The crackdown has undermined America’s status as a hub of academic freedom and global talent.

•    Final Warning:
The U.S. now risks not only its academic integrity but its moral standing. In defending a genocide abroad, it’s committing a slow-motion purge at home.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.