ALBAWABA – The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) agreed at the India G20 summit on Saturday to establish a new railway and shipping corridor, connecting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Jordan and Israel.
Better late than never: India responds to Belt and Road with Mideast-India railway-corridorThe deal, signed by the US and EU with India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia Jordan and Israel at the India Group of Twenty (G20) summit, has been in the works for months, Bloomberg reported.
Jordan was not reported by Bloomberg as a signatory party to this agreement, at least not directly. But both Bloomberg and AlJazeera confirmed the country’s involvement in the Mideast-India railway-corridor plan.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (L), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and US President Joe Biden attend a session at the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP)
“They say it is an economic corridor designed to link India, the Middle East and Europe,” according to AlJazeera’s Katrina Yu.
“It will consist of railway lines and shipping lines that will pass through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel,” She said.
Details on the value of the deal were not available, but Yu said that officials are hailing it as a “game-changer” for the region and the world. Especially with China missing the India G20 summit and this Mideast-India railway-corridor coming across as India’s response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The US declined to give a timeline for the completion of the project, but Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein said countries would meet within the next 60 days to discuss that.
US diplomacy peaks at India G20 Summit with Mideast-India railway-corridor as China misses out
The US has been quietly holding talks since January on the project with India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel, Bloomberg reported.
“This is a game-changing regional investment,” US President Joe Biden said at an event announcing the plans. He thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sat between them.
The Saudi prince also commended Biden and they shook hands, according to Bloomberg.
A trans-African corridor is also on the table, to improve transportation between the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the so-called “Copper Belt” in Zambia to Lobito port in Angola. The US and the EU are also backing this project, known as the Lobito Corridor.
However, the Middle East plan is more than just an infrastructure project, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer told reporters on Saturday.
This handout image provided by the UAE Presidential Court shows India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcoming Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (Photo by Ryan CARTER / UAE PRESIDENTIAL COURT / AFP)
The overall strategy was focused on “turning the temperature down” in a region that was historically a “net exporter of turbulence and insecurity,” Finer said.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Ekhbariya TV quoted the Saudi Crown Prince as saying at the India G20 summit that the new project would include pipelines for electricity, hydrogen and railways, and will contribute to international energy security.
The project will develop energy infrastructure and enable the production and transport of green hydrogen to all partner countries, according to Bloomberg. And it includes a new undersea cable connecting the region to improve telecommunications and data transfers.
