New economic corridor surrounding India, Middle East and Europe
A new railway and shipping corridor has been announced, aiming to speed up the economic activities of India, West Asia and Europe.
With the announcement of this new corridor, a question arises as to whether India and the US are to compete against China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) or “One Belt One Road (OBOR).
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Joe Biden announced this new economic corridor (the route for economic activities and commodity trade) during the G20 summit at India’s capital New Delhi on Saturday.
While announcing the project, Modi said, “We do not believe in trade wars with different countries, we want to spread the word of faith.” Throughout the summit Modi repeatedly spoke about this “lack of faith.” He wanted to say faith is the base of carrying forward the relationship.
The goal of this project is to connect India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union through rail and sea routes. It is assumed that not only will trade be increased, but also the exchange of power resources and digital communication will increase manifold. This corridor will reduce trade costs in this vast area by a big margin.
The common people will be benefitted. Signing an agreement to implement the project during the G20 summit, the Indian prime minister Modi said, this is a ‘historic partnership.’ Apart from India, the agreement was also signed by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Italy, USA and the European Union (EU).
Whenever India tried to expand its communication with West Asia, Pakistan has resisted. They have never wanted India to get that opportunity. They have been active about this since 1990. They did not extend their support to India for establishing a communication link to Afghanistan or West Asia through Pakistan. The main reason is fear and distrust.
Pakistan was constantly encouraged by its staunch ally China. With Pakistan in its grip China wants to carry forward the OBOR or BRI project. But now India will apparently be able to succeed in its campaign by overcoming all obstacles its western and northern neighbours. The US and West Asian countries Saudi Arabia, UAE and other new Indian allies have extended their support.
The US is also interested in implementing this project. The main reason is to reduce the impact of China in South and West Asia. In May, the national security advisors of the US and India, Jake Sullivan and Ajit Doval respectively, had a preliminary discussions in this issue during their meeting. After that the discussions moved forward rapidly.
Due to the inflexible stance of China in East Ladakh, Modi’s interest in this has increased manifold. China has been progressing with its BRI project through Aksai Chin and Gilgit and Baltistan of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. They are not paying any heed to India’s objections. As a result, Modi got interested in countering them by initiating the project.
Despite having ‘’sweet” relations with India, Bangladesh is a partner of China’s BRI project. The economic relationship is robust between Bangladesh and China. And India continues to be concerned about the rise of China’s influence in South Asia including Bangladesh
But none of the leaders of the countries that joined the G20 summit have clearly mentioned how such a gigantic project will be funded. Not even the time period for the project is decided. It is evident, there are many complexities ahead. On Saturday, it was a mere announcement, only the official commencement of a long journey.
While announcing the project, Modi said, “We do not believe in trade wars with different countries, we want to spread the word of faith.” Throughout the summit Modi repeatedly spoke about this “lack of faith.” He wanted to say faith is the base of carrying forward the relationship.
US president Biden also echoed him by saying, “One world, one family, one future is the focus of this G20 summit. This new corridor deal will extend communication by keeping up that motto. So, this project is historic and had huge potential.”
If this project is implemented it will create a direct connection with India and West Asia ignoring the resistance of Pakistan and China. India will not by any means be dependent on Pakistan. The relation between India and Arab countries has been improving gradually. As a result, this corridor will help increase trade.
In ancient times the “spice route” was used between the Indian sub-continent and Europe, so this project is being described as the “new spice route.” According to the plan, this project will be finalised by combining two corridors. One is the ‘East-West” that connects India with West Asia while the other is the “Northern Corridor’’ connecting West Asia with Europe.
China is yet to comment about the project. Their reaction is to be seen. It is also to be seen whether India’s closest neighbour and ally Bangladesh is interested in it or not. Despite having ‘’sweet” relations with India, Bangladesh is a partner of China’s BRI project. The economic relationship is robust between Bangladesh and China. And India continues to be concerned about the rise of China’s influence in South Asia including Bangladesh.