India, France and the United Arab Emirates held a trilateral ministerial meeting in New York on 22 September and agreed to meet at regular intervals to review their cooperation, including on artificial intelligence and space, IANS reported. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Key points
- The ministers reviewed cooperation in AI, space, culture and heritage.
- Health sciences and energy were also among the subjects discussed.
- The three governments agreed to meet regularly to review progress.
AI and space in the trilateral review
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Barrot led the French delegation, while Sheikh Abdullah, who is also the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister, led the Emirati delegation, ANI reported. The three ministers reviewed work in areas on which their governments had already agreed to cooperate, particularly space, AI, and culture and heritage.
That review and the discussion of possible cooperation covered related but distinct parts of the meeting. The Ministry of External Affairs described space, AI, and culture and heritage as agreed areas in which the ministers assessed progress, according to India Today. Jaishankar’s account of the discussion also included health sciences and energy. The ministers agreed to continue examining cooperation across the areas of mutual interest, according to the ministry statement reported by IANS.
Jaishankar wrote after the meeting that the countries’ shared interests and what he called their “complimentary capabilities” offered scope for cooperation. He identified AI, space, health sciences, energy and culture as the principal subjects of the talks. The three governments’ agreement to review progress regularly places AI alongside fields that involve different institutions and public priorities, from scientific work to energy. It gives their ministers a recurring occasion to examine the cooperation they have discussed.
The account of the meeting carried by ANI described the governments as seeking to advance their ties through practical initiatives. It also reported that the ministers wanted to strengthen and broaden trilateral cooperation in areas of common interest. Those formulations come from the governments’ account of their intentions. The decision announced at the meeting was to reconvene and review progress, with Jaishankar saying in a post after the talks that the ministers had agreed to meet again soon.
West Asia joins the New York agenda
The meeting extended beyond technology and sectoral cooperation. The three ministers discussed the situation in West Asia, according to the Ministry of External Affairs statement reported by India Today. Regional affairs therefore formed part of the same conversation in which the governments reviewed their existing work on AI and space. The ministry’s account also included culture and heritage among the areas already under review.
The trilateral followed a separate meeting between Jaishankar and Barrot in New York on 21 September. The two ministers discussed regional and global issues, particularly the crises in Ukraine and the Gulf, as well as reform of the United Nations Security Council, IANS reported. Jaishankar described their regular meetings and telephone conversations as a way of maintaining the momentum of the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership.
Ministers agree on regular progress reviews
For the trilateral, the ministers agreed to meet at regular intervals and examine progress across the areas in which the three countries can work together, according to the ministry statement reported by ANI. Jaishankar’s own account used a nearer horizon: he said they had agreed to meet again soon to take the discussion forward. The regular ministerial review applies to the wider programme that includes space, health sciences, energy and culture.
The New York meeting brought together the foreign ministers responsible for that programme as the three countries reviewed cooperation already under way in their agreed areas. In the ministry’s account, the ministers reaffirmed their intention to develop constructive ties through concrete initiatives and agreed to return to the table at regular intervals to assess progress across those areas.
