A transcontinental “green bridge and transit corridors” was announced on Saturday at the G20 summit hosted by India, which will include projects linking Asia to Europe via Saudi Arabia.
The initial agreement for the project, which was signed Saturday in New Delhi, includes: the United States, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, the European Union, France, Germany and Italy, according to a statement published by him. White House.
The project will include railway and maritime transport lines linking major continents to each other, in what US President Joe Biden described as a “historic agreement”, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said about it that the project is “much bigger than just railways or cables”, noting that “A green and digital bridge between continents and civilizations.”
This project would help boost trade, save energy resources and improve digital connectivity.
“An ambitious and important project”
The project will include railway and maritime transport lines linking major continents
Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council, an expert in regional security for the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, Ilan Berman, described the new project as “ambitious and important.”
He stressed in an interview with Al-Hurra website, “Washington has always talked a lot about the need for long-term competition with China, but there have been only a few concrete initiatives in this regard.”
He believes that the details he revealed “after a long wait have the potential to bring the Middle East, Europe and Asia together if they are properly developed and implemented, making them capable of providing partners with an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.”
Through the Belt and Road Initiative, which comes within the framework of the New Silk Roads programme, Beijing is making huge investments in a number of developing countries to build infrastructure.
This project aims to improve trade relations between Asia, Europe, Africa and even beyond, by building ports, railway networks, airports or industrial complexes, allowing the Asian giant to reach more markets and open new outlets for its companies.
However, his opponents believe that Beijing aims to enhance its political influence, and they also criticize the exorbitant debts that he imposes on poor countries.
“A new era of international cooperation”
Saudi writer and political analyst, Mubarak Al Ati, believes that this project represents “a global step that enhances achieving a state of growth, stability and economic cooperation at the regional and global levels, which will make Saudi Arabia an important logistical support point.”
He explained in an interview with Al-Hurra website that “we are facing a new era of international cooperation, which will not be limited to transportation and logistical support for the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, and will include the energy and communications sectors.”
Al-Ati stressed that Saudi Arabia is “very keen that this project not be an alternative to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, as it wants to establish balanced relations between the East and the West, and Riyadh has strong and historical relations, whether with the United States or China.”
He added, “There is nothing preventing Riyadh from being a partner in both important projects, in a way that serves everyone’s interests.”
A document published by the White House regarding the announcement of the large “corridor” between India and Europe said, “We want to launch a new era connected through a railway network, linking ports in Europe with the Middle East and Asia.”
The goal is to create a “commercial contract,” while “encouraging the development and export of clean energy,” according to the document. The project will also include laying submarine cables.
Biden announces a “big deal”… a shipping line and railways from India to the Middle East and then Europe
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden and his allies announced plans to build a railway and maritime shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, an ambitious project aimed at promoting economic growth and political cooperation.
Although White House officials have not set a timetable for completing the project, the corridor will provide a real alternative to the Belt and Road project that China announced earlier.
The White House did not provide any details about the cost or financing of the project, although Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman mentioned $20 billion during the announcement.
It was not clear whether this amount applied only to the Saudi commitment, according to the Associated Press.
Saudi Arabia and Israel
For his part, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan revealed that this project will include: India, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union.
He added that improved infrastructure will boost economic growth, help bring Middle Eastern countries together and solidify the region as a center of economic activity rather than a “source of challenges, conflict or crises.”
Regarding whether this project might establish relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Al-Ati said, “This project serves all countries and peoples of the region without exception, and the issue of rapprochement with Israel is not the important matter for Saudi Arabia, and wherever its interests go, Riyadh’s compass will go.”
He pointed out that cooperation exists in this project “regardless of the political differences with any country,” noting that “political rapprochement with Israel will only take place by meeting Saudi demands in this context.”
The Axios news website reported that the project aims to connect Arab countries with a railway network that could extend to Israel in the event of normalization of relations, then to Europe via Israeli sea ports, in addition to maritime links with India.
European sources reported that this will be accompanied by the establishment of energy facilities, especially for the production and transportation of green hydrogen, as well as a new submarine cable to enhance communications and data transmission.
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2023-09-09 19:23:18
