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The US and EU support the development of new shipping and rail corridors linking India to the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea to counter China’s economic influence in the region.
The plan was launched on Saturday to coincide with the G20 summit in New Delhi, with leaders including US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shaking hands at the summit. This was announced through a memorandum of understanding agreed to by the parties. end of the event.
The proposed corridor would stretch from India across the Arabian Sea to the United Arab Emirates, then cross Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel before connecting to Europe.
Talks on such projects, which also include new undersea cables and energy transport infrastructure, have been underway between the countries behind the scenes for months, but will now proceed on a more formal basis. Although there were no binding financial commitments, the parties agreed to develop an “action plan” for the next 60 days.
Biden said the corridor would provide “endless opportunities” for the countries involved and “make trade much easier.” [and] “Exporting clean energy” and “laying cables to connect regions.” He said it would “contribute to a more stable and more prosperous Middle East.”
“This is truly historic. This will be the most direct connection ever between India, the Arabian Gulf and Europe,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the project’s president. Said at the start.
“This is a green, digital bridge that spans continents and civilizations,” she said, adding that the rail link would speed up trade between India and Europe by 40 per cent.
For the United States, the project comes at a time when Washington’s traditional Arab states, such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are deepening ties with China, India and other Asian powers, and as China’s growing influence in the region increases. It may play a role in countering the
The planned passage of the corridor through Jordan and Israel builds on Israel’s recent normalization of relations with Arab countries, including the UAE, amid pressure on Saudi Arabia to follow suit and formalize ties. Officials explained that this could support the Biden administration’s efforts to This was said in the discussion.
“China is also a factor. The US is also trying to refocus attention on the region, reassure traditional partners and maintain influence,” the official said. However, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said there was no specific connection to normalization negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“This is not a particular precursor to normalization. It is not connected to the broader discussion we are having on the normalization issue,” he said.
“It is clear that all participants and sponsors are committed to working together on this issue and believe that investing in this type of regional integration will bring practical benefits.”
EU officials said the EU’s role in the deal was negotiated during Ms von der Leyen’s visit to Abu Dhabi on Thursday and talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The cooperation is a central part of the EU’s efforts to deepen trade and investment ties with Gulf countries, especially in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the officials added.
The EU will commit up to 3,000 yen to overseas infrastructure investments between 2021 and 2027 through the Global Gateway project, launched to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative and protect Europe’s interests in key trading partners. It is planned to spend 1 billion euros.
Both Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, and the UAE, the Middle East’s major financial center, are establishing themselves as important logistics and trade hubs between East and West.
But ambitious cross-border infrastructure projects in the Arab world have historically been few and far between, including a planned 2,117km rail network linking six Gulf Cooperation Council countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. Not attracting attention. Even now, more than 10 years after its founding, only a portion of it has been constructed.
National Security Adviser John Finer earlier told reporters that the development of the corridor is part of the Biden administration’s push to increase “connectivity” while aiming to “lower temperatures” and “de-escalate conflict” in the region. He said it is consistent with.
But the project’s principles also stand in contrast to the type of infrastructure financed by China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative’s financing is opaque and has been criticized for trapping poor countries in debt.
“We think this is very attractive, not only to the countries involved but also globally, because it is a high standard and it is not coercive. . . . We are trying to impose something on someone. We’re not saying that,” Feiner said.
The EU and US also made another announcement on the sidelines of the summit regarding the Trans-African Corridor between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Angola, aimed at improving trade in raw materials, including copper.
