New Delhi: India is, of course, committed to IMEEC, the India-Middle East-Economic Corridor, despite the current crisis in West Asia, something Sarbananda Sonowal, the ports and shipping minister has recently said. While the hostilities involving Israel, the Hamas, the Hezbollah and others continue, a critically important facet of the Corridor, which looks at the easy movement of goods from India to Greece and beyond via West Asia is now almost ready. This is the indigenously created software for the billing that all the countries involved in the process of goods movement will have to accept. “We are close to ending the development stage of the software,” a senior official said and this involves the “uniform billing procedure that all countries involved will have to accept.”
IMEEC, announced during the G20 meeting in India last year, aims at creating a trade route– by ship from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then by rail through Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Haifa, an Israeli port run by the Adanis, and then, onwards to Greece by freighter, and other European countries. India's national security advisor Ajit Doval was involved in the initial planning and the US government is also very keen on it. Naturally, the trading tokens have to be accepted by all the countries involved and the first step to it– the creation of the software is close to the final development stage.
While the troubles in West Asia will certainly delay the implementation of the project, there is optimism that the fighting will eventually end. And also, that the Greeks, who see their country as the hub from where goods will move to Europe are very bullish on it. From Haifa, the goods will move to a Greek port and then move ahead.
Major infrastructural work, principally railway lines through the Arabian peninsula, linking Abu Dhabi to Haifa have to be readied. That will require an end to the hostilities, but the software development is an important step. Without it, no smooth flow of goods is possible.