The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a planned multimodal transport and infrastructure corridor and a strategic concept/initiative designed to significantly strengthen trade and economic integration across three continents. It was formally announced and launched on September 9, 2023, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. The founding signatories include India, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the European Union (EU), France, Germany, and Italy.
The corridor was conceived to provide a reliable alternative to existing trade routes, such as the Suez Canal, and is widely seen as a counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The mechanism is divided into two parts: the Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf, and the Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf to Europe. It is a multimodal network combining maritime routes from Indian ports (like Mundra and JNPT) to UAE ports (like Jebel Ali), followed by a high-speed rail network across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel to the Haifa Port, and then onward to Europe.
Beyond the transportation pillar, IMEC includes an energy pillar for an electricity grid and a clean hydrogen pipeline, and a digital pillar for new fiber-optic cables. The goal is to reduce transit times by up to 50% and transportation costs by 30-40%. The project is closely connected to the Abraham Accords and the I2U2 grouping (India, Israel, the UAE, and the U.S.). While the project faced delays due to the Gaza war and regional instability, its importance was reiterated at the G7 Summit in June 2024, where members called for a credible roadmap for the next 36 months.