India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: Towards a New Discourse in Global Connectivity

Setting the Context The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was announced in September 2023 following a meeting in New Delhi between the leaders of India, the US, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, and the European Commission on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The Israeli port of Haifa is integral to the proposed corridor, but the growing fallout of the unprecedented terror attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023 has temporarily cast a shadow over the ambitious plan. Enthusiasm for the plan, however, can be seen from the statement of US President Joe Biden, who described the signing of the memorandum of understanding to establish the corridor as a “real big deal,” one that would include transport, data, renewable electricity grids, and clean hydrogen pipelines. [1] Geopolitical and geoeconomic considerations underpin the rationale for the IMEC. The proposal emerged from the womb of the 2020 Abraham Accords and the I2U2 grouping, which added India to the US-Israel-UAE grouping in October 2021. The first virtual summit of the I2U2 in July 2022 suggested that its focus areas would include strategic transport links. Saudi Arabia was crucial for the project, and it was brought into the equation just as the US-led efforts to drive a possible establishment of diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv were gathering momentum. These elements were at play when the National Security Advisors of India, the US, UAE, and Saudi Arabia met in Riyadh in May 2023. Israel was an early and enthusiastic advocate of the project, with one former Israeli minister describing the transport link as a “peace train” that would foster peace and prosperity in the region.