IMEC not frozen due to security issues, India engaged with selected partners: MEA

New Delhi, April19 (IANS) India remains engaged with "selected partners" on India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) despite the current political and security situation in the region, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Saturday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia, next week.

Emphasising that efforts will be made to take forward work on IMEC during PM Modi's two-day visit to Saudi Arabia scheduled from April 22-23, the top diplomat hoped that engagement on IMEC across the original and prospective partners will fructify on the ground soon.

"The political and security in the regions seems like progress of IMEC has frozen, but India has engaged with selected partners and exchanged views on what needs to be done. We don't necessarily need to wait for the security situation to completely settle down for work to start on IMEC," said Misri.

It was on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023 that the leaders of India, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and US announced an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), committing to work together to develop a new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The IMEC will comprise two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and northern corridor connecting Gulf to Europe.

"After the signing of the framework understanding on IMEC in September 2023, all partners had an urgent regional situation to address. It meant that the kind of groundwork that was foreseen between all the partners could not begin immediately. That however, does not mean individual countries or groups of countries that are part of the original agreement have not discussed or engaged on what the contours of the agreement will look like and what kind of work will be required to effect progress under this agreement," Foreign Secretary Misri said on Saturday.

The IMEC corridor, which aims at integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East involves multiple stakeholders and 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 emission, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East (West Asia).

"Much of the work related to some of the missing infrastructure linkages in the IMEC corridors is work that makes sense for many of those countries to undertake, whether those links become part of IMEC eventually or not, as they have national relevance and national salience as well," said Misri.

Earlier this week, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, while addressing the IMEC High-Level Roundtable on Connectivity and Economic Growth in New Delhi, said that the visionary concept - a powerful endorsement of the leadership and partnership of India and Middle East and East Europe - has caught the fancy of the world.

Goyal stated that IMEC is not merely a trade route, but a modern-day Silk Route — a partnership of equals — that fosters synergy, connectivity, and inclusive prosperity.

"It will bring down logistics costs by up to 30 per cent, reduce transportation time by 40 per cent, and create seamless trade linkages across continents," he said. "We will not only be linking trade; we will be linking civilizations and cultures — from Southeast Asia to the Gulf, from the Middle East to Central Europe."

--IANS

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