Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Interim Budget on Thursday. During her budget speech, Sitharaman highlighted the significance of the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and said it would be a game changer for the member countries.
“The recent India Middle East Europe economic corridor is a strategic and economic game changer for India and others. In the words of the Prime Minister, the corridor and I quote, the corridor will become the basis of world trade for hundreds of years to come and history will remember that this corridor was initiated on Indian soil,” said the finance minister.
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All you need to know about the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)
- India, US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, at the G20 Summit which took place in India on September 9-10.
- The India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor will consist of two separate corridors. The East corridor will connect India to West Asia/Middle East and the Northern corridor will connect West Asia/Middle East to Europe.
- By linking Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe through enhanced connectivity and economic integration, the corridor aims to give a boost to economic development in the regions.
- The corridor will include a rail line, which, upon completion, will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network. The rail line will supplement the existing multi-modal transport routes enhancing trans-shipment of goods and services from South East Asia through India to West Asia/Middle East and Europe.
- During the G20 Summit, US president Joe Biden hailed the corridor project and highlighted that it “will spur opportunities for investment across two continents.” Biden said, “This is part of our effort to build a more sustainable integrated Middle East”.
- In October, while speaking at the inauguration of the third Global Maritime India Summit (GIMS), India’s PM Narendra Modi highlighted that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor has the potential to transform the global maritime industry.
During the budget speech, Sitharaman promised unprecendented economic development in next five years to realise the dream of a Viksit Bharat.
“The vision for Viksit Bharat is that of prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature with modern infrastructure and providing opportunities for all citizens and all regions to reach their potential. With confidence arising from the strong and exemplary track record of performance and progress earning Sabka Vishwas, the next five years will be years of unprecedented development and a golden movement to realize the dream of developing India by 2047,” said Sitharaman.
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