Showing (Corri)door to China's clout: How IMEC can help India leverage its trade and geopolitical potential
India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was launched with the promise of galvanising connectivity and trade through India, the Arabian Gulf and Europe, with an underlying goal of shifting geopolitics in the region, by countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The precise route map of the corridor will be figured out when the stakeholders meet in the next two months. But a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) unveiled on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ meeting shed light on its broader contours — a transit through India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe.
The proposal also includes a new railway line across the Arabian peninsula, with cables for electricity and digital connectivity and pipes for clean hydrogen running in parallel.
In essence, the project will have multiple components — an east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf by sea, a northern corridor linking the Gulf to Europe, and deployment of rail and road linkages on its land section — a part-sea, part-land trade corridor with transshipment facilitation in between.
No doubt, the IMEC will help New Delhi leverage its economic and geopolitical potential. India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, tells ET that it will be like “a plug-and-play project”, with a significant potential to unlock massive trade opportunities that were missing because of connectivity issues.
“For example, the IMEC has the potential to reduce trade time between the EU and India by 40%, which will be a significant boost in reducing energy costs and increasing trade,” Kant says, adding that the corridor will act as a green and digital bridge, linking key commercial hubs, enabling production and export of clean energy, expanding power
