The I2U2 Group is an inter-governmental economic cooperation forum and a minilateral grouping (concept/institution) comprising India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States (US). The name is an acronym representing the two countries starting with 'I' and the two starting with 'U'. It is also informally known as the Middle Eastern Quad or Western Quad.
The grouping's genesis was a virtual meeting of the four countries' foreign ministers in October 2021 in New Delhi. It was formally launched at the first virtual leaders' summit on July 14, 2022, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan participating. The initiative was catalyzed by the Abraham Accords of August 2020, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, creating a new environment for regional economic integration. I2U2 was created to focus on economic pragmatism and multilateral cooperation, distinguishing it from older groupings.
I2U2 functions as an executive-level coordination mechanism centered on shared economic and technological objectives, not a binding defense or trade architecture. Its mechanism encourages joint investments in six mutually identified areas: water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. The model leverages US and Israeli technology and capital, UAE financing, and Indian scale in manufacturing and consumer markets. Key projects include a $2 billion investment by the UAE to develop integrated food parks across India and a 300-megawatt (MW) hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat.
The I2U2 is a prominent example of a minilateral grouping, a concept that has grown in recent years, and is often compared to the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) but with a focus on economic and trade synergies. A recent development was the announcement of a new joint space venture on September 21, 2023, to use space-based observation data for environmental and climate change challenges. The group also established the I2U2 Private Enterprise Partnership to engage the business community.