Can India-Europe corridor rival China's Belt and Road?

The BBC announced this week that there will be a new transport corridor on the sidelines of the G20 summit In Delhi.  They have said it will become the basis of the world trade for years to come. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a recent radio address.

The project will be launched to support transportation and communication links between Europe and Asia through rail and shipping networks, 

The IMEC is also being seen by many as a US counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure-building project that connects China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe.

IMEC's message of understanding is thin but an action plan is expected in the next 60 days. As of date all it has done is map out the potential geography of a corridor.

Making it happen will be enormously complex. "I'd like to see an identification of key government agencies who will underwrite the investments, the capital each government will allocate, and the time frames, says Mr Khanna.

A new customs and trade architecture will also be need to be put in place to harmonise paperwork, he adds, giving the example of the Trans-Eurasian railway through Kazakhstan that passes through 30 countries. "That transit is seamless. You need clearances only at the beginning and end of the journey. We don't have this with IMEC."

There will also be complexities of navigating ties between partner countries such as the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia who don't see eye to eye.

The IMEC will compete with the Suez Canal, the sea-level waterway in Egypt used to transport freight between Mumbai and Europe.

Transport by sea through the Suez Canal is cheaper, faster and considerably less cumbersome. "It may make excellent political sense, but it goes against all the tenets of transport economics," Mr Aiyar adds.

But IMEC's ambitions transcend the narrow scope of trade and economics to include everything from electricity grids to cybersecurity - building on conversations that have taken place in security forums like the Quad, points out Navdeep Puri, a former Indian ambassador to the UAE in a column for The National News.

"If the lofty ambitions outlined in New Delhi can become a reality, they would make a singular contribution to a safer, more habitable planet. For now, let's live with that hope."

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The corridor will include the Haifa port in Israel as seen in the picture.

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Quotes and information taken from the BBC

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