IT WAS GEOPOLITICS that anchored international relations in the 20^th century. Today, at the quarter-mark of the 21^st century, it has become clear that this is the era of geoeconomics. To be sure, geopolitics and geoeconomics share a symbiotic relationship, as military and strategic strengths are reinforced by economic integration, and vice versa. And despite prevailing narratives of de-globalisation, a downgrade of multilateralism, and the palpable decline of post-Second World War alliances led and built by Western powers, the appetite to connect the world, people, industries, and economies has only been reinvigorated by newer actors forging new projects that seek to link different parts of the globe.

A fitting illustration is the vision of an India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, more popularly known as IMEC, connecting India with Europe via the Middle East. Announced on the sidelines of the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, this economic blueprint represents a new era of thinking. Not many in the past have envisioned the Middle East as being central to building global financial highways. However, the meteoric rise of the United Arab Emirates, a rapidly opening and growing Saudi Arabia, Qatar hosting its first football World Cup in 2022 and another iteration of the same now slotted for Saudi Arabia in 2034—all highlight how the winds have changed for a region that not too long ago was known largely for two things: oil and conflict. While there is no doubt that geopolitical crevasses persist, as seen in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a story of change is emerging.

Both India and Europe, as the entry and exit nodes of this vision of connectivity, stand to benefit not only as states and regions serving as transit points for such a project, but as stakeholders. Europe has experience worth tapping into to move towards successful connectivity; India and the Middle East, meanwhile, are the new faces of globalisation, growth, and global governance. From New Delhi and Dubai to potentially Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Amman, Cairo, and others, the future of growth has new leaders looking to contribute for a blueprint of the world over the next century.

This publication, Rethinking India-Europe Trade Routes in a New Era of Connectivity, comprises two reports that seek to add to the current discourse. The first report examines the broader realities of connectivity between India and Europe via the Middle East as a scene-setter to explain why connectivity projects are worth investing in. The second report looks into how Egypt, home to the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most critical trade routes, can be central to the success of such a project.

Connectivity projects as massive as one between India and Europe are decades-long endeavours. In an era of uncertainties, the efforts of like-minded countries putting their political and financial acumen together to re-build the crumbling idea of a world order are worth exploring.

Read the report here.

• International Trade and Investment
• Connectivity
• European Union
• India
• connectivity
• economic integration
• Egypt
• geoeconomics
• globalisation
• imec
• India-Europe relations
• India-Middle East-Europe Corridor
• infrastructure
• Middle East
• new world order
• Suez Canal
• trade routes

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