UAE, US & Israel agree to form two groups on religious coexistence & water-energy crisis

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israel’s Yair Lapid and said that they have agreed to establish two new working groups. While one of groups will focus on religious coexistence, the other would deal with water and energy issues. The meeting among the UAE, the US and Isreal’s top diplomats covered the progress achieved one year after the signing of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement between the UAE and Israel.

In a press release, the US State Department said that Sheikh Abdullah, Blinken and Lapid explored a range of regional and international developments, saying that the three-way meeting reflects America’s commitment to building ways for cooperation between both nations “committed to achieving advancement and development”.

"Our presence here today reaffirms our commitment to the necessity of changing the prevailing conditions in the region in the right direction," Sheikh Abdullah said, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

UAE FM on Israel-Palestine conflict

Laying emphasis on Abraham Accords Peace Agreement being a catalyst for establishing peace in the region, the UAE Foreign Minister, as per the official release, said: “We have succeeded in establishing a nation that respects values and recognises tolerance and co-existence...I will visit Israel soon in order to meet our friends and partners. We need to not only celebrate this bilateral relationship but also look forward to wider prospects of cooperation between the two nations.”

Sheikh Abdullah has also noted that there could be no peace in the Middle Eastern region if Israel and Palestine do not reach the “talking terms”. He added, “Therefore, we are happy to see over the past weeks Israeli officials meet with their Palestinian counterparts. We have to continue encouraging them to do so. We believe that the UAE-Israeli relations have enabled us to be frank with each other and helped us to encourage others whenever there is something we can do.”

“We are impressed with the growing relationship with Israel. We always rely on our friends in the US of America. This is an important thing for us. And we need to look forward to wider prospects of cooperation between the UAE and Israel in several fields,” the UAE FM added.

(IMAGE: AP)

(With ANI inputs)