Prelims: Current events of international importance, India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Arabian gulf, mapping of west asia and Europe etc
Mains GS Paper II: Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- In New Delhi, Prime Minister of India, President of the United States, Chancellor of Germany, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, President of UAE, Prime Minister of Italy, and the President of the EU unanimously agreed to establish the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC):
- The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEE-EC) is an infrastructure development project that aims to create connectivity through rail and shipping networks, energy cables, and data links.
- The IMEC will be a route in the historic sense of the word (with the geopolitical and economic significance that entails)
- It will provide transport connectivity to accelerate the development and integration of Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe as a new locus of global power.
- It envisions a reliable, cost-effective railway and ship-to-rail transit network
- To supplement maritime and road routes, enabling goods and services to move between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the EU. IMEC is India’s moment.
- It will be the cornerstone of economic progress across the region by supercharging regional trade, and connecting Asia with Europe.
Present maritime route:
- The maritime corridor between Asia and Europe currently remains rooted in the saturated Suez Canal and Mediterranean shipping routes
- It is longer and involves additional logistics costs.
- It takes 11 days to sail from JNPT in Maharashtra to Suez port, and six days to Dammam.
Benefits of IMEC:
- An additional 24-hour transit by railway could land consignments at Haifa, saving three to four days of transit.
- It links major ports of western India including JNPT, Kochi, Kandla and Mundra with major shipping ports of the Gulf, including Jebel Ali, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khair, Dammam, Duqm, and Salalah.
- From these ports, cargo will be transported by the Saudi rail network on their north-south line to the port of Haifa in Israel through Jordan.
- Haifa, being a deep seaport, can handle bulk container trains and post Panamax ships which after transhipment, carry cargo to European ports like Piraeus, Kavala (Greece), Trieste, La Spezia (Italy), Marseille-Fos (France), Barcelona, and Valencia (Spain).
- Road container trailers or container cargo trains will thereafter transport goods across Europe.
Corridors of IMEC
- IMEC has two corridors:
- Eastern corridor linking India to the Arabian Gulf
- Northern corridor linking the Arabian Gulf to Europe.
- Both ends have robust port, rail, and road infrastructure.
- Eastern end of IMEC: India has a massive, well-integrated railroad network, mega ports, and highways on the eastern end of IMEC.
- Mega infra projects for augmenting capacities — dedicated rail freight corridors, highways, expressways and ports — are at various stages of development.
- On the western end of IMEC, beyond Haifa, the sea route across the Mediterranean is also a well-charted path to Greece, Italy, France, and Spain
- It is well served by hinterland connectivity to Europe by rail and roads.
What should be the Focus areas?
- It must be on the land bridging requirements from the Gulf ports to the West Asian ports on the Mediterranean
- The connectivity to the major gateway port of Haifa in Israel.
- Constructing missing rail links, terminals, and inland container depots (ICDs) at all major Gulf and Mediterranean ports.
- Connectivity to Gulf ports will be operationalised by the under-construction rail network of the Gulf Cooperation Council to connect Kuwait with Muscat on a north-south coastal rail system.
- This will connect the gulf ports
- Exit across Saudi Arabia will only be possible on the Saudi Arabian Rail (SAR) network connected to Saudi ports and operational to the borders of Jordan by a railway system.
- SAR, runs heavy and long-haul freight trains from Saudi ports in the Gulf
- It will bring down logistics costs, making this land bridging extremely efficient.
- The SAR network ends on the Jordan border
- The missing link from the last SAR railhead at Al Haditha to Haifa is the most crucial challenge of IMEC.
- From the Saudi border terminal of Al Haditha to Amman, rail connectivity is already being planned.
- Connecting Amman to Beit She’an in Israel will also require a rail link to be developed by Jordan.
- Israel has planned to connect Haifa to Beit She’an via Jenin near the Jordanian border.
- Haifa port shall have to augment capacity to be able to handle additional cargo that would divert to this route instead of the longer Suez Canal route.
- It is most critical for Jordan and Israel to build the required infrastructure in a time-bound manner to make IMEC work.
What would make this corridor tick?
- Uniformity of railway networks on standard gauge
- unlike other regions where consignments get delayed due to transhipment necessitated by change of gauge on two systems.
- The connectivity of the missing links on IMEC from Haifa to Al Haditha will be of standard gauge, enabling seamless connectivity.
- No mega transport corridor can be viable by depending only on the end-to-end traffic.
- IMEC must consider connecting hinterlands by developing the feeder rail routes which could merge on the main corridor.
- This has a multiplier effect on all stakeholders.
IMEC and Environment:
- IMEC, unlike any other corridor, envisages the laying of cables for electricity and a pipeline for transporting clean hydrogen.
- The greening of this project will contribute to the global effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Way Forward
- IMEC has incredible potential to integrate India, West Asia, and Europe on a collective path to growth at an unprecedented scale.
- India as a regional leader can bring up an entire regional economy through the combination of its technical leadership and outward-looking approach.
- India can support the rail projects of GCC, Jordan, and Israel through its PSUs like IRCON, RITES, DFCC, RailTel, and CONCOR.
- The IMEC has a head start — multilateral unanimity, clear dividends for the economies involved, and the brass tacks of a firm commitment at its inception stage.
- A working group of experts from the railway sector, ports and shipping, and communications needs to develop a plan of action to address physical and non-physical barriers, design, financing, legal and other regulatory requirements.
- A comprehensive IMEC agreement with a clear time frame will help translate the commitments of the MOU into a roadmap for action.
- As a strategic catalyst for a new way of thinking about collective growth, globalization, and connectivity
- This new corridor will trigger regional and global cooperation initiatives for socio-economic development across continents, benefitting millions.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
The long sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalized nations has disappeared on account of its new found role in the emerging global order.’ Elaborate(UPSC 2019) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
