India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor:
An Indian delegation recently paid a visit to the UAE for the first time to hold discussions with the key entities there on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC).
- India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) was announced on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in New Delhi when a memorandum of understanding was signed between the European Union and seven countries, namely India, the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, and Italy.
- The corridor will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime routes.
- It intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, enhance economic cooperation, generate jobs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
- The IMEEC will comprise two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe.
- The corridor will include a shipping route connecting Mumbai and Mundra (Gujarat) with the UAE, and a rail network connecting the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan with the Israeli port of Haifa to reach the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
- Haifa will then be connected by sea to the port of Piraeus in Greece to eventually be connected to Europe.
- 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.
