China Will Have Less Power In The Middle East Because of India's Plan

 

Ajit Doval, who is in charge of national security, met with his counterparts from the US and UAE. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also there. The leaders talked about a project to build a railway that would connect the countries in the Middle East.

Foreign Policy said that India is planning a big project to connect New Delhi to the Middle East. This is to counter China's growing influence in the Gulf.

Ajit Doval, who is in charge of national security, met with his counterparts from the US and UAE. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also there. The leaders talked about a project to build a railway that would connect the countries in the Middle East.

With roads, rails, and seaports, the ambitious connectivity project aims to connect the Middle East to India. Axios said that the idea came up at meetings of the I2U2 group, including Israel, over the past year.

The I2U2 group is a relatively new way for the US and India to work together in the Middle East. It was not meant to be a China-focused group, since the UAE and Israel work closely with China in business, as reported by Foreign Policy.

Since Saudi Arabia hasn't made its relationship with Israel official, Israel isn't a formal part of the project. However, the fact that Israel is a member of I2U2 suggests that it will play a role.

The connectivity project shows how much India has benefited from the Abraham Accords, a deal made during the Trump administration that made it easier for Israel to get along with some of its Arab neighbors.

The deal made it possible to start the I2U2 group, and talks there led to the new plan, according to Foreign Policy.

The proposed initiative demonstrates that India and the US are prepared to expand their coordinated efforts against China beyond the Indo-Pacific and into the Middle East.

The connectivity initiative is seen as a way by the Biden administration to counterbalance China's influence in the area. According to a former senior Israeli official, "No one said it out loud, but it was about China from the start."

The goal of the connectivity project is to use India's skills as a provider of infrastructure. In the past, it has built the world's biggest rail system and helped make arrangements for sharing electricity across borders. With this new plan, Indian officials hope to build more infrastructure in the Middle East to compete with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

One analysis says that, in the best case, India could eventually benefit from land and sea trade routes that go from Israel and the United Arab Emirates to Greece's Piraeus port and then into Europe.

India wants to join a new multilateral effort to counter China's growing presence in the Middle East, which is being driven by investments in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a recent strategic agreement with Iran.

Foreign Policy said that Beijing also recently helped get a peace deal between Tehran and Riyadh.

India's trade interests and the fact that several million Indians work there and send money back home make the Middle East a more and more important place.

Also, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen recently went to New Delhi. Even though he left early because there was a problem in Gaza, he probably wanted to meet with Indian officials to talk about the connectivity project.

In a statement released before the visit, Cohen said that India can play a key role in making the Middle East safer for ev.

India can expand influence, trade, and diplomacy beyond the Indo-Pacific region. It can do all of this in a year, while it holds the G-20 presidency, its economy is growing quickly, and it has surpassed China as the world's most populous country.