Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the plan as a major medium of economic integration between India, West Asia, and Europe, and US President Joe Biden referred to it as a game-changing regional investment.
Source: ForumIAS Blog
The IMEC is definitely a response to President Xi Jinping’s fanfare-filled multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that China has been promoting for the past ten years. With a vast network of land and water channels, the BRI aspires to link China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf, Africa, and Europe.
However, it has received criticism from a number of sources, particularly for placing an unsupportable debt burden on smaller countries. The fact that Italy, a party to the IMEC MoU, intends to leave the Chinese endeavor is important.
With regard to the new intercontinental connectivity project, China has every cause to be anxious. Beijing’s answer was characteristically equivocal, saying that it welcomed the IMEC as long as it didn’t turn into a geopolitical tool.
Source: WION
The IMEC may prove to be an engine of economic growth and a way for India, which is enjoying the success of the G20 conference, to increase its geopolitical influence. Especially in the energy sector, the new corridor can promote global cooperation. New Delhi is taking the appropriate steps to strengthen its energy security in the midst of the upheaval brought on by the protracted Russia-Ukraine war with the decision of India and Saudi Arabia to quicken the implementation of the $50 billion West Coast refinery project.
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