Ambitious Asia-to-Europe Corridor Will Link Up U.S. Partners

Latest Developments

World leaders announced plans on September 9 for a rail and shipping corridor running from India through the Arabian Peninsula to Israel. The “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” initiative, unveiled at the New Delhi-hosted G20 summit, was promoted by the Biden administration as a means of facilitating trade and the delivery of energy resources, as well as improving digital connectivity.

While years from implementation, the project envisages an overland counterpart to Gulf and Suez Canal shipping, with a rail network to move goods from Asia through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to Israel, whose Mediterranean ports will then serve to transport them on to Europe. Israel welcomed the announcement, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the country would be a “central junction” in the plan and would harness all resources to make it happen.

Expert Analysis

“President Biden is wise to partner up with Prime Minister Modi in parlaying the wave of Indian economic growth for the benefit of Middle East countries aligned with U.S. interests. At a time of rising Iranian-orchestrated sabotage against Gulf shipping, growing Chinese regional influence, and occasional but costly mishaps in the Suez Canal, this plan shows that world powers are thinking of alternatives.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Move over ‘one belt one road.’ This important initiative takes a page out of the Chinese playbook, yet also reinforces the important progress Middle East states have taken toward normalization. Israel will be an important junction for this sprawling project with regional Arab states. But no less important is the participation of India, a country that will prove to be indispensable in America’s great power competition with China.” — Jonathan Schanzer, FDD Senior Vice President for Research

“A three-way deal between the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel would be consequential for the region and for American security. It would be an important counter to Chinese and Iranian influence in the Middle East. But it should not come at the price of green-lighting nuclear proliferation in the Middle East as a previous Obama administration deal did with the Iran nuclear deal of 2015.” — Richard Goldberg, Senior Advisor