Last month we witnessed extraordinary and terrifying scenes aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, in what appears to have been an attempted hijacking. They may well have been successful, were it not for the courage of the Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, his fellow crew and the passengers on board, in what Israel's ambassador to India has called an attack on the heart of the Abraham Accords. 
Although not a signatory to the Abraham Accords, India certainly operates as Abraham Accords+, with strong, historic ties to both Israel and the UAE. Jewish communities such as the Bene Israel, the Cochin Jews and the Baghdadi Jews lived in India for centuries, largely free of the persecution they suffered elsewhere, and tens of thousands of Israelis of Indian descent now form a living bridge between the two countries, a heritage Modi himself has celebrated. India's ties to the Accords' Gulf signatories run just as deep. The UAE is home to more than three million Indians and hosts the largest Hindu temple in the Middle East: the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, opened by Modi in 2024 on land gifted by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. In Bahrain, where Indians are the largest expatriate community, the Shrinathji Temple in Manama has stood since 1817, built by Hindu merchants from Sindh. Modi, the first Indian prime minister to visit Bahrain, launched its restoration in 2019. 
These are living examples of the religious tolerance and coexistence the Abraham Accords were founded to champion, and India is part of that story. 
i2u2 India Way IFPP by Ajitesh Vishwanath

In 2021, there was a programme of formalising these trilateral links alongside the United States in what became the I2U2 grouping. Its foreign ministers first met in October 2021, a partnership made possible by the Abraham Accords a year earlier. Its first leaders' summit, in July 2022, produced a $2 billion Emirati commitment to food parks in India using Israeli agricultural technology, alongside a renewable energy project in Gujarat. Each partner brought something distinct: Indian scale, Emirati capital, Israeli innovation and American convening power. 
Like many such projects, however, I2U2 lost momentum after 7 October 2023. The summits stopped, and the exercise drifted into dormancy. 

Yet the idea never died. In February, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to address the Knesset, and told Israeli lawmakers that India and Israel would "work closely" through both the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the I2U2 framework. That matters: the group's largest member has told Israel's parliament that I2U2 remains part of its plans. Now is the moment to act on that commitment. 
Israel, too, has kept the idea alive. President Isaac Herzog has set out I2U2, alongside IMEC and the Abraham Accords, as part of his vision for an integrated Middle East, including in his speech at Chatham House last year. And it remains alive in Israeli politics: in August, opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the revival of I2U2, IMEC and the Negev Forum as part of his platform for this month's election.
The foundations are already in place. India and Israel opened free trade negotiations in February, and Modi has since made his eighth visit to the UAE. And the agenda cannot wait. As we look at the economic challenges facing the region, from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea to the war with Iran, it is clear why IMEC matters, and why I2U2 matters to it. President Trump endorsed the corridor at the UN General Assembly last month, and Washington says it is ready to move, yet progress is stalled while regional partners settle their roles. I2U2 was IMEC's forerunner. Revived, it could become its engine, choosing projects, pooling finance, and providing the political backing the corridor currently lacks. 

Projects like the Abraham Accords cannot rely on diplomatic engagement and tourism alone. Functional trade and investment initiatives, focused on critical areas, are what will ensure these relationships endure, and I2U2 is exactly that kind of initiative. It is time to return to it. 

About the Author: Freddie Russell

Freddie Russell is Executive Director of the UK Abraham Accords Group, a UK-based non-partisan NGO that supports regional integration and the expansion of the Abraham Accords.