NEW DELHI: US President Joe Biden will host a virtual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his visit to West Asia from July 13 to 16.

A senior US administration official told reporters in a background call Tuesday that the new grouping will be called “I2U2” — “I” for India and Israel and “U” for the US and UAE.

In October 2021, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries took place when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was visiting Israel. At that time, it was called the ‘International Forum for Economic Cooperation’. This time, the meeting will take place at the level of heads of government/state, an upgrade.

The US official, briefing on Biden’s visit to Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia next month, said, “The visit will also focus on Israel’s increasing integration into the region, both through the Abraham Accords; through deepening ties between Israel, Jordan and Egypt; and also a new grouping of partners including Israel, India, UAE and the US — what we call I2U2.”

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