Deepika Saraswat replies: The China-mediated agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia on restoring their diplomatic ties after seven years has been welcomed by New Delhi. Given these two countries are key actors in the region which India considers part of its extended neighbourhood, any calming of tensions or rapprochement between them is seen as furthering regional peace and stability.

Deepika Saraswat replies: In March 2022, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) agreed on the broad outline to revive the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, talks were stalled as a result of a last minute demand by Russia for written guarantees from Washington that the sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine crisis will not harm its economic and military-technical cooperation with Iran.

Md. Muddassir Quamar replies: The I2U2 is a mini-lateral initiative among India, Israel, the United States (US) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the stated objective of “expanding economic and political cooperation in the Middle East and Asia, including through trade, combating climate change, energy cooperation, and increasing maritime security.”