Conceived as an ambitious project quietly by India and close ally UAE two and a half years ago, the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor was announced by a galaxy of leaders on the side-lines of G-20 summit with support from US led Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) today.
After several quiet meetings between National Security Advisors (NSA) of India, UAE, USA, and with full support of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Middle-East corridor project envisages movement of goods through standardized containers from India to Fujairah Port on the eastern seaboard of UAE and then to Port of Haifa in Israel through 2650 kilometer of railroad via Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Some 1,850 kilometers of railroad is already functioning between the two countries with Saudi Arabia planning to build the remaining portion so that the goods reach the Port of Haifa. From there, the goods from India and other countries in the sub-continent like Nepal and Bangladesh will be shipped to various ports in Europe including Italy, Germany and France.
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Proposed by the leaders of India, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and joined now by leaders of Italy, Germany and France, the Middle-East corridor will be completed in phases with the rail engines to be powered by solar energy in the final stages.
{{/usCountry}}Proposed by the leaders of India, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and joined now by leaders of Italy, Germany and France, the Middle-East corridor will be completed in phases with the rail engines to be powered by solar energy in the final stages.
{{/usCountry}}“The middle-east corridor will be a rail bridge to send goods from Vietnam to India via Myanmar and Bangladesh in future and ensure that the Indian goods hit European destinations within a matter of seventy two hours. The containers will be standard sized and will be shipped to Fujairah and Haifa ports. The Haifa port in Israel is currently being operated and upgraded by an Indian company,” said a top official.
The project has been under discussion for the past two and a half years including meetings in Dubai and Jeddah. The last known meeting of the project was held in Jeddah under the stewardship of Crown Prince MBS with Indian NSA Ajit Doval, US NSA Jake Sullivan and UAE NSA Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan in attendance in May this year.
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It is understood that each participating country will fund the project in its own territory with the possibility of South Asian countries joining at a later stage. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Joe Biden, Saudi PM Mohammed bin Salman, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all present at the announcement of the project in New Delhi this evening, the India-Middle East-Europe project will act as the most important trade and technology bridge between the three important regions of the world.