India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor
 India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor  (geopolitics)   | |
|---|---|
| Western attempt to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative |
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a planned economic corridor that aims to bolster economic development by fostering connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Persian Gulf and Europe.[1]
IMEC vs BRI
IMEC's proposed route connects India to Europe through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Greece, and is seen by many as a US counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure-building project that connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe.[2]
September 10th
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for IMEC was signed on 10 September 2023 during the 2023 G20 New Delhi summit by the governments of India, United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan and the European Union. IMEC envisioned two sections: an eastern maritime link between India and the Persian Gulf, and a northern section that would connect the Arabian Peninsula to Europe. These would be connected by a new railway network to link the Gulf with the Mediterranean via Jordan and Israel. Beyond the transport infrastructure, undersea cables would facilitate the exchange of data, while long-distance hydrogen pipelines would boost the participants’ climate and decarbonisation goals.[3]
October 7th
The parties set themselves a deadline of 60 days to put forward more detailed plans for IMEC’s implementation. On October 7th, less than a month after the G20 summit, Hamas’s attack on Israel sparked a war whose impact has reverberated around the world. IMEC planning seemed to be on ice. This prompted scepticism that IMEC could ever fulfil its grand ambitions, with one analyst even claiming the project had collapsed – in “a stark reminder that grand strategic plans often stumble in the face of harsh geopolitical realities.”[4]
