Along with the customary “family picture” of the G7 meeting held at resorts of Borgo Ignazia, there also came up a significant announcement; demand for India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor raised by India in G20 summit has been received well by G7 as the members shake hands on agreement and commit towards a new era of globalization.
Words from the officials
“We will further promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment) initiatives, flagship projects, and complementary initiatives to develop transformative economic corridors for quality infrastructure and investment, such as the deepening of our coordination and financing for the Lobito Corridor, the Luzon Corridor, the Middle Corridor, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, also building on the EU Global Gateway, the Great Green Wall Initiative, and the Mattei Plan for Africa launched by Italy,” reads the official statement.
IMEC: A Network of Roads, Rails and Ports from India up to Europe
India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor boasts a well laid network of numerous shipping ports from western coast of India connecting it to UAE where the goods will further move from UAE to Israel’s Haifa port in Mediterranean sea by rail, where containers will be put back on ships and will be then taken throughout the European Union.
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G7’s Answer to China’s Belt Road Initiative
China’s over ambitious project; Belt Road Initiative, is under the world’s scrutiny with severe allegations of infringing the sovereignty of numerous countries, lack of transparency and being an instrument of China’s infamous Debt Trap Policy. Here a parallel and safer alternative emerges in the form of IMEC which is a project of mutual trust and partnership providing similar levels of connectivity for trade and telecommunication networks.
IMEC- A Probable Hit?
The signatories of IMEC include India, United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, European Union, France, Germany, Italy. These countries have the highest trade volumes throughout the world and would significantly benefit from IMEC as it can potentially boost commerce between India and European Union ruling out the monopoly of Suez canal and also reducing the logistics costs to a great extent.
About Author
This article is written by Akshat Jain, who is pursuing his Masters degree in Economics from School of Economics, DAVV. He is interested in economics, literature, cinema and automobiles. During his spare time he likes to listen to music, read or travel.