Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US president Joe Biden will be part of the first I2U2 leadership summit on Thursday where Israel prime minister Yair Lapid and UAE president Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will also participate.
The war in Ukraine, Iran nuclear deal, rising inflation and food prices will be discussed between these leaders on July 14.
This is the first time members of the grouping – whose names are derived from the first letters of the respective names of the countries (India, Israel – I2 and UAE, US – U2) – are meeting at the heads of state level. Until last year the meetings were held on foreign ministerial level.
The group focuses on economic cooperation and infrastructure projects. Though some have called this the West Asian Quad, the grouping is likely to anger Iran as both the US and the UAE sees it as a threat. Tehran will perceive the grouping to be hostile to its interests.
Tehran also shares strong ties with New Delhi and it is still unclear how it will impact India-Iran ties as both nations are keen to move forward together on issues related to trade, energy and people-to-people relations as it did in the past.
The US says the grouping will help India counter China and will also aim to reduce the security dependency of some West Asian countries on China.
“There’s concern about sales of certain Chinese military weapon systems into the Middle East, and the United States wants to limit that. And, of course, there’s always the concern about China gaining access to sensitive technologies,” Dan Shapiro, former US ambassador to Israel said, while speaking to Jerusalem Post.
The Israeli view of the I2U2 is that it allows it to integrate itself in the region which earlier was hostile to its existence. It builds on the Abraham Accords to expand regional partnerships beyond the Middle East.
The UAE also views this partnership as logical to counter Iran – regarding whom the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are equally concerned. The UAE could also use this opportunity to
Biden will also visit Israel for the first time as US president, he will also meet Saudi Arabia’s head of state Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is also expected to be present and his advisers have suggested he meet Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine president as the Trump administration ignored them during its tenure.
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