The United States, the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia and other countries announced on Friday on the sidelines of the G20 a mega project of railways, ports and energy connections as an alternative to China’s Silk Road.
The project became a reality this Saturday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of the ‘India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’ by the countries concerned: the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), Germany, France, Italy and the European Union (EU).
“I am proud to announce that we have signed a historic agreement to create an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor”US President Joe Biden said at an event on the sidelines of the G20, along with other leaders who have championed the project.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the project “historic,” while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called it “important” and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “unprecedented.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Jordan and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, will also participate in the project, which, he added, will contribute to “greater integration in the Middle East’.
The idea is to build rail and sea routes connecting India to Europe via the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, Sullivan explains.
In this way the The new corridor aims to reconfigure trade between countries in Europe, the Persian Gulf and South Asia, significantly reducing the time it takes to transport goods between these countries.
It also aims to increase energy cooperation between signatory countries and improve their internet connections.
To this end, a green hydrogen gas pipeline will be built, infrastructure will be built to connect the power grids of different countries and submarine and terrestrial cables will be installed to facilitate the rapid exchange of data, the White House official said.
Despite the ambition of the project, the Memorandum of Understanding is limited to setting out its objectives but does not define its financing.
The next step will be for signatory countries to establish working groups within 60 days so that areas where investments are needed can be identified and a realistic implementation schedule can be drawn up, said Amos Hochstein, Biden’s senior adviser on infrastructure.
The announcement comes at a time when China has increased its influence in recent years not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but also in the Middle East, for example having been the mediator of the Saudi Arabia-Iran agreement, in March, to restore diplomatic relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to welcome world leaders, including his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, to Beijing in October for a Silk Road forum.
This weekend, India will host a G20 summit where strong differences over the war in Ukraine, the phase-out of fossil energy and debt restructuring are expected to dominate debates.
Source: DN
