Corridor to a new world

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• Historically, India has been the pivot of connectivity from ancient Red Sea route, Rome to Indian Ocean and Punjab that was significant from socio-culture, economic and connectivity point of view.
• And , recently, On September 10 in New Delhi, the Prime Minister of India, President of the United States, Chancellor of Germany, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, President of UAE, Prime Minister of Italy, and the President of the EU unanimously agreed to establish the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).

About India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and its

• The IMEC will be a route in the historic sense of the word (with the geopolitical and economic significance that entails), providing transport connectivity to accelerate the development and integration of Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe as a new locus of global power.
• MEC is envisioned two corridors
• An eastern corridor linking India to the Arabian Gulf and a northern corridor linking the Arabian Gulf to Europe. Both ends have robust port, rail, and road infrastructure.
• India, whose connectivity infrastructure has helped it become the world’s fastest-growing major economy, has a massive, well-integrated railroad network, mega ports, and highways on the eastern end of IMEC.
• Mega infra projects for augmenting capacities — dedicated rail freight corridors, highways, expressways and ports — are at various stages of development.
• On the western end of IMEC, beyond Haifa, the sea route across the Mediterranean is also a well-charted path to Greece, Italy, France, and Spain, and well served by hinterland connectivity to Europe by rail and roads.

Importance of IMEC

• Promote better connectivity: It envisions a reliable, cost-effective railway and ship-to-rail transit network to supplement maritime and road routes, enabling goods and services to move between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the EU. IMEC is India’s moment.
• Development and employment generation in the region due to infrastructure development.
• It will also be the cornerstone of economic progress across the region by supercharging regional trade, and connecting Asia with Europe through a region that has never, since the ancient Red Sea route, been considered for such connectivity despite its game-changing potential in terms of shorter transits, accessibility, and multimodal connectivity.
• It will save time compare to existing one route:
• The maritime corridor between Asia and Europe currently remains rooted in the saturated Suez Canal and Mediterranean shipping routes despite being longer and involving additional logistics costs.
• It takes 11 days to sail from JNPT in Maharashtra to Suez port, and six days to Dammam. An additional 24-hour transit by railway could land consignments at Haifa, saving three to four days of transit.
• It will strengthen the supply chain among the partner nations.
• IMEC, which promises shorter routes. It links major ports of western India including JNPT, Kochi, Kandla and Mundra with major shipping ports of the Gulf, including Jebel Ali, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khair, Dammam, Duqm, and Salalah
• It will help in countering the China’s hegemony of Belt and Road Initiative in the Asia and European region.

Way forward

• As commitment of resources from stakeholders and multinational financial institutions like the World Bank will not be an issue as the financial returns on investments promise to be high.
• The green and sustainable growth corridor will envisage the laying of cables for electricity and a pipeline for transporting clean hydrogen. The greening of this project will contribute to the global effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
• IMEC has incredible potential to integrate India, West Asia, and Europe on a collective path to growth at an unprecedented scale.
• And it is a historic moment for India as a regional leader that can bring up an entire regional economy through the combination of its technical leadership and outward-looking approach.
• As the next step, a working group of experts from the railway sector, ports and shipping, and communications needs to develop a plan of action to address physical and non-physical barriers, design, financing, legal and other regulatory requirements.

Conclusion

• A mega global initiative like IMEC is only the beginning. As a strategic catalyst for a new way of thinking about collective growth, globalisation, and connectivity — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam in the truest sense , this new corridor will trigger regional and global cooperation initiatives for socio-economic development across continents, benefitting millions.