PM Modi, US President Biden to Attend I2U2 Virtual Summit Next Month: White House
New Delhi: The White House official informed the media on Tuesday that the President of the US – Joe Biden to attend the first I2U2 virtual summit next month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennett, and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan would also attend a first-of-its-kind virtual summit called I2U2 next month for discussions on the food security crisis and other areas of cooperation.
According to a senior administration official at the White House, said “The virtual summit of the four countries, termed I2U2, would take place during Biden’s trip to the region from July 13 to 16,”
President Biden will visit the Middle East region from July 13 to July 16 with stops in Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, and engagements with nearly a dozen counterparts from across the region and beyond. The first stop is Israel. This will be President Biden’s first visit to the country as President, and it comes nearly 50 years after his first visit to Israel as a young senator, said the official. During the trip, Biden will engage with nearly a dozen of his counterparts in three stops — Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia.
What is I2U2 Summit?
It is part of this clear sequence of global engagements at an important moment, the official said. It demonstrates we believe, the return of American leadership to bring countries together to address common threats and challenges, something the US can uniquely do.
With new frameworks that aim to harness unique American capabilities to enable partners to work more closely together, which is essential to a more secure, prosperous, and stable Middle East region over the long term, the official said.
Biden’s visit will also focus on Israel’s increasing integration into the region, both through the Abraham Accords with the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain through deepening ties between Israel, Jordan, and Egypt; and also entirely new groupings of partners, including Israel, India, the UAE, and the United States — what they call I2U2.
(Vinayak)
