The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is gaining renewed strategic importance as the Iran war highlights the vulnerability of critical maritime chokepoints, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump has backed IMEC as an alternative trade and energy route, saying attacks on commercial shipping demonstrate the need to reduce dependence on routes vulnerable to disruption. Speaking to Gulf and regional leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump said his administration “strongly supports” IMEC and other infrastructure, including pipelines, to move energy out of the region.
Unveiled at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 by India, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union, IMEC envisages an eastern maritime corridor linking India with the Gulf and a northern rail corridor connecting the Gulf with Europe.
Under the proposed network, cargo from India would move by sea to the Gulf before being transferred to rail for onward movement through Saudi Arabia and Jordan towards the Mediterranean and European markets. The corridor also envisages electricity transmission, digital connectivity and clean-hydrogen infrastructure.
The conflict has added a resilience and energy-security dimension to the project. Disruptions around Hormuz have highlighted the risks of concentrating a significant share of global energy flows through a single maritime chokepoint. Saudi Arabia has also restarted operations on its East-West Pipeline, providing an alternative route for crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The UAE is expected to play a pivotal maritime-to-rail role in IMEC, serving as a gateway for Indian cargo into the wider corridor.
Despite its strategic potential, IMEC remains at an early stage and requires substantial investment in rail, port and logistics infrastructure, as well as coordination among participating countries. Regional conflicts and political tensions have also slowed progress.
The latest US backing nevertheless places renewed emphasis on IMEC as more than a trade corridor, with alternative routes increasingly being viewed as part of broader efforts to strengthen the resilience of global trade and energy supply chains.