Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced launch of India-Middle East-Europe mega economic corridor. The project includes India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the European Union (EU), France, Italy, Germany and the US. 

“Today, we all have reached an important and historic partnership. In the coming times, it will be a major medium of economic integration between India, West Asia and Europe,” he said. The corridor will give a new direction to connectivity and sustainable development of entire world, said PM Modi 

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden called the launch “a big deal”, saying that one was going to hear the phrase economic corridor more often in the coming decade. 

The rail and shipping corridor is a part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII) – a collaborative effort by G7 nations to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations. PGII is considered to be the bloc’s counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 

The project will aim to enable greater trade among the involved countries, including energy products. “It could also be one of the more ambitious counters to China’s massive infrastructure programme, through which it has sought to connect more of the world to that country’s economy,” the Associated Press (AP) said. 

The corridor will include a rail link as well as an electricity cable, a hydrogen pipeline and a high-speed data cable, according to a document prepared by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The document also called the project “a green and digital bridge across continents and civilisations”.