It’s time to revisit IMEC
In September 2023, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, world leaders signed an MOU that briefly captured the world’s attention. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) set out an ambitious multimodal route connecting Indian ports to European markets via the Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean. Goods shipped from India to the UAE, transported overland by rail across Saudi Arabia and into Israel, then loaded onto vessels at Haifa for onward transit to Greece, Italy, or France. Layered on top: undersea data cables, hydrogen pipelines, and a shared digital trade platform. Not just a logistics route, but an integrated economic ecosystem connecting economies representing roughly 40% of world GDP.
The corridor was designed to do more than move freight. It was conceived as a commercial expression of the Abraham Accords: using the diplomatic foundations of the agreements to build a multi-governmental trade architecture that included Israel, generating tangible economic interdependence. It was also, without being stated quite so bluntly, a direct challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as an alternative model of connectivity, anchored in dynamic partnerships and US strategic interests.
Like many other similar projects though, any momentum following IMEC’s announcement came to an abrupt halt after October 7th.
We do, though, have Iran to thank for bringing it back to centre stage.
The past several months have exposed, once again, the vulnerability of global trade routes concentrated around a handful of maritime chokepoints. Disruptions tied to instability around the Red Sea and the Gulf have increased shipping costs, complicated energy markets and forced governments to confront the risks of overdependence on routes they cannot fully secure.
IMEC would integrate Gulf logistics hubs, Indian manufacturing capacity, European markets and Israeli infrastructure into a more connected economic space. Rail links, ports, undersea data cables and potential hydrogen pipelines are all part of the same strategic idea: building resilient supply chains.
And the signals from Washington suggest the argument is landing. Recently, US Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg met with GCC and Jordanian ambassadors and stated directly that the region is critical to securing American tech supply chains, and that IMEC is essential to coordinating those efforts. The diplomatic momentum around the corridor has been building for months. In February, Modi addressed the Knesset in Jerusalem, the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, reaffirming India’s commitment to IMEC and the I2U2 framework directly with Israel. This week he arrived in Rome for the final leg of a five-nation tour, meeting Prime Minister Meloni with IMEC as a centrepiece of the agenda. The tour began in the UAE, where Indian and Emirati officials highlighted IMEC as a vehicle for strengthening regional connectivity. Modi and Meloni are expected to adopt a joint declaration further strengthening bilateral ties, with a target of €20 billion in trade by 2029. Taken together, it is a systematic effort by Delhi to lock in commitments at the announcement of IMEC in 2023.
The Abraham Accords created the diplomatic foundation, the Iran war has now created economic urgency. The question is now whether other governments will treat this moment as the catalyst.