{"id":29140,"date":"2024-09-07T19:41:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T14:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=29140"},"modified":"2024-09-10T00:26:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T18:56:17","slug":"india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor-to-boost-maritime-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-09-2024\/india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor-to-boost-maritime-security","title":{"rendered":"India Middle-East Europe Economic Corridor to Boost Maritime Security"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/International Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Union Minister of Commerce &amp; Industry stated that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) can add to India\u2019s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Participants:<\/strong> During the Delhi G20 Summit, India, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Objective: <\/strong>The corridor will encourage and provide impetus to economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration between Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Components<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will consist of two separate corridors,\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The East corridor<\/strong> connecting India to West Asia\/Middle East and&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Northern corridor<\/strong> connecting West Asia\/Middle East to Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The project would involve the building of a<strong> railway line<\/strong> across the Arabian Peninsula through the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and develop <strong>shipping connectivity<\/strong> to India and Europe on either end of this corridor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The corridor could be further developed to transport energy through pipelines and data through an optical fiber link.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ports Which are Part of IMEC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India:<\/strong> Ports in Mundra (Gujarat), Kandla (Gujarat), and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Navi Mumbai).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Europe: <\/strong>Piraeus in Greece, Messina in Southern Italy, and Marseille in France.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Middle East:<\/strong> Ports include Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, as well as Dammam and Ras Al Khair ports in Saudi Arabia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Israel:<\/strong> Haifa port.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Railway Line:<\/strong> The railway line will link Fujairah port in the UAE to Haifa port in Israel, passing through Saudi Arabia (Ghuwaifat and Haradh) and Jordan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c7c9bc\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMEC-1-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"IMEC\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-29219\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c7c9bc; width:606px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMEC-1-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMEC-1-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMEC-1-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMEC-1-jpg.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Maritime security for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The IMEC creates a<strong> robust and secure trade corridor<\/strong> across important maritime routes. It will give India a strategic role in patrolling and securing these areas\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s involvement ensures its critical maritime chokepoints, like the <strong>Arabian Sea and the Strait of Hormuz,<\/strong> are safeguarded.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The collaboration between countries in the corridor will facilitate increased <strong>intelligence-sharing and joint maritime exercises<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It will help India to <strong>monitor maritime threats like piracy, trafficking, and terrorism,<\/strong> particularly in volatile zones like the <strong>Gulf of Aden or the Red Sea.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As IMEC improves connectivity, India has an opportunity to <strong>expand its naval presence<\/strong> in strategic ports within the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This bolsters India\u2019s power projection capability and ensures a protective watch over its trade routes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>IMEC will ensure India that the strategic <strong>Indian Ocean region does not become dominated by Chinese investments,<\/strong> thereby preserving its maritime dominance and reducing external threats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Other Opportunities for India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bypassing Pakistan:<\/strong> IMEC breaks Pakistan\u2019s veto over India\u2019s overland connectivity to the West. Since the 1990s, India has sought various trans-regional connectivity projects with Pakistan.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>But Pakistan was adamant in its refusal to let India gain access to land-locked Afghanistan and Central Asia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Indo-US collaboration in the Middle East:<\/strong> This project has broken the myth that India and the United States might work together in the Indo-Pacific but not in the Middle East.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hurdle before IMEC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Israel-Palestine conflict<\/strong> has put a pause on the normalization of Arab-Israel relations which is a key element of the multi-nation initiative.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz: <\/strong>The entire trade of the IMEC architecture flows through the Strait of Hormuz and with Iran\u2019s proximity and control over the strait, the risk of disruptions remain very high.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The security challenges<\/strong> in the region have made other partners reluctant to invest in the project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The geopolitical concerns need to be managed by striking a delicate balance in accommodating the geopolitical interests of the participating nations and addressing potential political sensitivities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is also a need to maintain the required security apparatus as the project passes through certain unstable regions of the world.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsonair.gov.in\/minister-piyush-goyal-addresses-1st-ever-india-mediterranean-business-conclave-2024-in-new-delhi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>AIR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Minister of Commerce &#038; Industry stated that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) can add to India\u2019s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29140"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29220,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29140\/revisions\/29220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}