After months of a pause on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that was launched during the G-20 summit in September 2023 but stalled due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the government is expected to take talks on the project forward this month, when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits India. Mr. Mitsotakis, who is due to visit as a chief guest at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)-Observer Research Foundation’s (ORF) annual Raisina Dialogue on February 21-23, had held initial discussions on building Greece as a regional hub for trade into Europe, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had travelled to Athens in August 2023.
Officials said that in addition to bilateral talks with the Greek delegation, high-level meetings with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, European Union Secretary-General Stefano Sannino and others on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue could yield some progress on the IMEC’s plans as well.
According to diplomatic sources, the visit by Mr. Mitsotakis could kickstart the talks over the next steps for the IMEC, particularly the use of Greek ports like Piraeus for the 3,000 km corridor that starts from India, and is designed to complete connectivity via Israel’s Haifa port to Europe, bypassing other routes like the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Thus far, the eight parties that signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi have only held informal consultations, the sources said. They include the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the U.S.
