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The India-Middle East-Europe trade corridor backed by Washington and New Delhi is a huge priority for the two countries and will take off in a major way after the situation in the Middle East stabilises, a senior US State Department official has said, noting that some groundwork is also continuing on the project.
Speaking with ANI, the official said the United States and India remain ready to advance the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), but the challenge is the situation in West Asia. The official pointed to the fallout from the Gaza war and the US-Iran confrontation, as developments that had paused broader progress on the initiative, even as preparatory work continues out of public view. The official said there had been geo-political disruptions since the projects inception and noted that much of the route runs through the Middle East with the corridors progress effectively hostage to regional stability. IMEC is absolutely a huge priority of the United States and of India. The problem I shouldnt say the problem. The challenge is that so much of it lies in the Middle East. And thats where I think on the India side and on the U.S. side, were ready to go. But because of some of the challenges weve had over the years, starting from the beginning of the administration the President came in and we were still dealing with Israel/Gaza. That certainly paused things, the official said. And then obviously Iran and Operation Midnight Hammer, that paused things. And so every its really being held in the Middle East. So I think when things can stabilise, youre really going to see IMEC take off, the official added. Despite the delays, groundwork has not stopped entirely. Officials said route-mapping work is already underway among participating countries, particularly on shipping and trucking corridors and with the State Department having stressed that it was deferring to Middle East specialists on the detail. The official said Washington remained optimistic about IMECs long-term prospects, while acknowledging the project and that Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Israel still had to work out their respective roles. The remarks follow President Donald Trumps endorsement of IMEC this week at a UN General Assembly gathering with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, where he argued that Iranian attacks on shipping in the region underscored the need to move Middle East energy infrastructure away from routes controlled by Tehran. Trump said his administration strongly backed IMEC and other alternative routes for exporting oil, whether by pipeline or other means. IMEC was launched in September 2023 at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, with a founding memorandum signed by India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the European Union, Italy, France and Germany. The corridor has two main strands - an eastern leg connecting India to the Gulf, and a northern leg linking the Gulf to Europe via West Asia and the Mediterranean. The project is intended to improve connectivity, cut transport costs, strengthen regional supply chains, widen trade access, and build closer energy and digital ties. Rather than a single rail line or pipeline, the corridor is envisaged as a linked chain of ports and railways: goods from Indian ports would travel by sea to a Gulf port such as Fujairah, then by rail through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israels Mediterranean coast with Haifa as a key hub before continuing by sea to ports in France, Italy and Greece. Trump described IMEC in February 2025 as one of the greatest trade routes in all of history, but analysts continue to view it as a long-term infrastructure ambition rather than a near-term alternative to existing energy transit routes. (ANI)
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