India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: A Historic Agreement to Counter China’s Silk Road

2023-09-09 16:30:00
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India, left, delivers remarks during a meeting with US President Joe Biden. Europa Press/Contact/Chris Kleponis – Pool via CN

The United States, the European Union (EU), India, Saudi Arabia and other countries announced on the sidelines of the G20 a megaproject of railways, ports and energy connections that aims to be an alternative to China’s Silk Road.

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“Today I am proud to announce that we have completed a historic agreement to create an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor,” said US President Joe Biden at an event on the sidelines of the G20, along with other leaders who have promoted the project.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, considered the project to be “historic”, while the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmán, described it as “important” and the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, affirmed that “is unprecedented.”

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Each of the leaders received applause from those present, visibly happy for making a project a reality that they had been secretly negotiating for months.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. EFE/EPA/AARON FAVILA/POOL

This Saturday the project became a reality with the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish the “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” by the countries involved: United States, India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE ), Germany, France, Italy and the European Union (EU).

According to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Jordan and Israel will also participate in the project, the latter without diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.

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The project, Sullivan argued, will contribute to achieving “greater integration in the Middle East” at a time when the United States is trying to get Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations, which might open the door to some type of solution to the Palestinian conflict. Israeli and would revolutionize the game board in the region.

The idea of ​​the megaproject is to establish railways and sea routes that connect India with Europe through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, Sullivan explained.

In this way, the new corridor seeks to reconfigure trade between the countries of Europe, the Persian Gulf and South Asia, significantly reducing the time necessary to transport goods between these nations.

Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. (Archyde.com)

In addition, it aims to increase energy cooperation between the signatory countries and improve their internet connections.

To do this, a pipeline will be created through which green hydrogen circulates, infrastructure will be built to connect electrical networks of different nations, and underwater and terrestrial cables will be installed to facilitate the rapid exchange of data, Sullivan explained.

Despite the ambition of the project, the memorandum of understanding is limited to outlining the objectives of the project, but does not establish how it will be financed.

The next step will be for the signatory countries to create working groups in 60 days so that the areas in which investment is needed can be identified and a realistic schedule for its execution can be established, Amos Hochstein, Biden’s senior advisor for infrastructure, explained to the press.

Both Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter, and the United Arab Emirates, the center of Middle East finance, have been seeking for years to protect themselves from any disruption to trade and energy routes.

However, experience shows that large infrastructure projects in the Middle East tend to be slow. An example is the railway project of more than 2,100 kilometers that seeks to connect the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar) and that has only been partially built a decade later. of its launch.

Although there is still a way to go, the announcement of the “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” has great political significance and represents a demonstration of strength by the Biden Government, which has set itself the objective of counteracting the influence of the Silk Road from China.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius/Pool

Exactly ten years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched this initiative, whose legacy already includes multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects, loans to developing countries, and the expansion of China’s geopolitical and economic power across five continents.

The announcement comes at a time when China has increased its influence not only in the Asia-Pacific, but also the Middle East over the past few years. For example, it acted as an intermediary in the agreement that Saudi Arabia and Iran signed in March to reestablish diplomatic relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to host leaders from around the world, including his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Beijing in October for a forum on the Silk Road.

(With information from EFE)

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