The India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is in focus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Saudi Arabia on April 22 to boost strategic partnership.
The Saudi leg of IMEC (via railroad) is the longest segment of IMEC and is yet to get the required boost since the initiative was launched in September 2023.
The initiative will be high on the agenda when Modi meets crown prince Md Bin Salman, according to people familiar with the matter. Energy ties and increasing Saudi investments in India are also on the agenda, they said.
Linking Indian ports such as Mundra, Kandla and Jawaharlal Nehru with UAE ports (Fujairah, Khalifa) and Saudi ports (Dammam, Ras Al Khair), IMEC offers a resilient and complementary trade route to the Suez Canal and Red Sea, adding robustness to regional and global supply chains.
The visit will also give an opportunity to discuss regional developments as the US has launched peace talks with Iran and the Saudi defence minister visited Tehran to meet the supreme leader and the President in a major move to establish regional stability. Saudi Arabia along with Qatar and Kuwait had earlier refused to host any US mission to target Iran.
India seeks a stable West Asia where it has deep energy and economic interests, said officials. During the 2023 visit of Salman to India, Modi and the Saudi crown prince decided to expand bilateral trade and defence ties. The two leaders also co-chaired the first summit meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).
During this meeting, eight memorandums of understanding were signed for cooperation in the fields of energy, IT, anti-corruption, archives, investments, EXIM banks, SME banks and desalination.