Indian-made trains may soon run in many Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There has also been a meeting between the National Security Advisors of the US, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates regarding this project. It is being told that India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has also gone to Saudi Arabia to be a part of this meeting.
According to media reports, in the meeting, Doval is likely to discuss the broad contours of a massive joint project in South Asia to build railway, sea, and road connectivity across a vast region connecting the Indian subcontinent with West Asia.
If sources are to be believed, the development of the project was first reported by US-based news website Axios. It said that Indian-made trains can run in many Gulf countries soon. This rail network will also be connected to India through shipping lanes from ports. Its primary objective is to reduce the influence of rising China in the Gulf countries. China is investing rapidly in the countries of the Middle East through the Belt and Road Initiative. In such a situation, this joint infrastructure project of the rail network is one of the major initiatives that the White House wants to implement rapidly in the Middle East.
discussed on Saturday
According to the report of Axios, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is also visiting Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Meanwhile, he met his Saudi, Emirati, and Indian counterparts on Sunday to discuss the project and other regional issues. Sources said that serious discussions were held during this period regarding the rail network project along with other regional issues.
India will have three benefits
According to sources, India wants to participate in this project because it serves three strategic objectives.
First, Beijing has expanded its sphere of political influence in the West Asian region, which Delhi views as a "Mission Creep". Because India was not getting attention due to good relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. If the project comes to fruition, such connectivity would allow faster movement of crude oil and reduce costs to India in the long run. Boosting connectivity will help the 8 million people in India who live and work in the Gulf region.
At the same time, the second reason is that this project will help India to build a brand in the railway sector as an infrastructure builder. At the same time, the third advantage will be that India's contact with its Western neighbors will not be limited. Significantly, Pakistan has blocked several routes, due to which India's connectivity with its Western neighbors has been limited for a long time. Therefore, the country is looking to use shipping routes to reach West Asian ports.
The rail network was discussed in the I2U2 forum
Significantly, the idea of an Indian rail network in the Gulf countries emerged in the last 18 months during a discussion in a forum called I2U2. This includes the US, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and India. I2U2 was established in late 2021 to discuss strategic infrastructure projects in the Middle East. A former senior Israeli official directly involved in early discussions on the issue told Axios that the project was directly linked to China, but no one named it.
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