Why Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire is a good news for India
Gaza, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel in October last year, and later pulled in Hezbollah too. The ceasefire does not extend to Gaza, where Israel’s military continues to fight Hamas as there is no progress on the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Yet, the ceasefire is a definite turning point in the conflict and raises hope for final resolution.
The ceasefire comes as a good news for India not just because India has trade and business interests in the Middle East which will be harmed if a wider war breaks out, but also because a highly ambitious project, which was deferred due to the conflict, can be back on track.
The most consequential announcement at last year's G20 Summit in Delhi was the commitment to build a rail-and-port network that will connect India to the Middle-East and the Middle-East to Europe and the US. It has been named the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC). Though no leader from the participating countries mentioned China, it is an obvious alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that aims to connect the whole world to China through shipping, rail and road networks.
Just when the IMEEC project was about to start, Hamas attacked Israel, making the project's future uncertain. However, work on the project has been on quietly. Foreign minister S Jaishankar on Monday said while conflicts in the Middle East are creating hurdles for the IMEEC, the ambitious project is progressing on the eastern side, especially between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
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