• Latest
rail

A railway in the desert

May 19, 2023
iphone 15

Sale of iPhone 15 sees 100 per cent growth versus iPhone 14 on Day 1

September 23, 2023
goldman sachs

Goldman sees India bond inclusion creating $40b inflow

September 23, 2023
unga

India flays Pakistan for raking up Kashmir issue at UNGA

September 23, 2023
Chandrasekhar

Centre aims to meet 70% of hardware demand through domestic production: Chandrasekhar

September 23, 2023
Supreme Court

SC to study validity of disqualification provision in RP Act

September 23, 2023
Women’s Reservation Bill as legal and social imperative

Women’s Reservation Bill as legal and social imperative

September 23, 2023
Giving wings to innovation

Giving wings to innovation

September 23, 2023
The statement of a new Parliament

Symbolising changing India

September 23, 2023
Admirable acknowledgement

Admirable acknowledgement

September 22, 2023
Agritech

Agritech firm Ergos raises $10 million as equity

September 22, 2023
History still runs on rails here

Railways increases ex gratia payment in train accidents by ten times

September 22, 2023
anurag-thakur

Thakur cancels China visit over visa denial to Arunachal athletes

September 22, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
Blitzindiamedia
Contact
e-paper
  • Economy
  • India
  • International
  • News
  • Legal
  • The blitz special
  • Opinion
  • Social
  • G20 podium
  • Education
  • Videos
  • Hindi Edition
  • UK Edition
No Result
View All Result
  • Economy
  • India
  • International
  • News
  • Legal
  • The blitz special
  • Opinion
  • Social
  • G20 podium
  • Education
  • Videos
  • Hindi Edition
  • UK Edition
No Result
View All Result
World's first weekly chronicle of development news
No Result
View All Result

A railway in the desert

Creating a railway network in the Gulf and connecting India with the Middle East is a bold gambit. It will completely change the dynamics of the region

by Blitz India Media
May 19, 2023
in Opinion
0
rail

K srinivasanIN a speech in Washington some weeks back, American National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: “If you remember nothing else from my speech, remember I2U2, because you will be hearing more about it as we go forward,” he said.

The US NSA was speaking concerning connectivity and outlined that at the heart of their plan was to connect South Asia to the Middle East and the US through a series of projects and collaborative arrangements that were either at the blueprint stage or under implementation. Sullivan said the grouping was in the process of taking “some new exciting steps that we’re looking forward to undertaking in the months ahead (and) in ways that advance our economic technology and diplomacy.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Giving wings to innovation

Symbolising changing India

‘‘A more integrated, interconnected Middle East empowers our allies and partners, advances regional peace and prosperity, and reduces the resource demands on the US in this region over the long term without sacrificing our fundamental interests or our involvement in the region,” he said

Genesis of the idea

According to the US website Axios, ‘‘The idea for the new initiative came up during talks that were held over the last 18 months in another forum called I2U2, which includes the US, Israel, the UAE and India. The forum was established in late 2021 to discuss strategic infrastructure projects in the Middle East. Israel raised the idea of connecting the region through railways during the I2U2 meetings over the last year. Part of the idea was to use India’s expertise on such big infrastructure projects. Nobody said it out loud but it was about China from day one. ’

‘’The initiative would include connecting Arab countries in the Levant and the Gulf via a network of railways that will also connect to India through seaports in the Gulf,’’ said Axios while clarifying that ‘’Israel is still not part of this proposed network. It is expected to be integrated into the mix once it normalises its relationship with Saudi Arabia.’’

The initiative would include connecting Arab countries in the Levant and the Gulf via a network of railways that will also connect to India through seaports in the Gulf
India’s role in initiative

Many wonder what does India bring to the table? Simple – a formidable reputation for creating railway infrastructure! In fact, Indian Railways is a true ‘Made in India’ story with the first Integral Coach Factory coming up in the fifties followed by loco factories across the country. Engineers from the Railway Engineering School in Jamalpur are rated as highly as those from the IITs although they are much lower in profile. They are the backbone on which the. Indian Railways runs its network so efficiently.

The country’s vast network and ability to transport large numbers of passengers and millions of tons of goods (while the efficiency has gone up as far as logistics is concerned it is still nowhere where it ought to be) rail network at home. The country has also created successful infra in Sri Lanka and that success has now been recreated in Africa where just the other day External Affairs Minister took a ride in a ‘Made in India’ train from the capital Maputo to Machava and held discussions on green transport, railways, electric mobility and waterways connectivity. In fact he even conducted a press conference on board the train!

Formidable skills

So the plan is to use India’s formidable public and private sector skills to create this network and help connect the region with each and with India. For India, it will be a win-win as it helps enhance connectivity with its immediate western neighbours using the ports of Chabahar and Bandar-e-Abbas (Iran), Duqm (Oman), Dubai (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Kuwait City.

This was a key part of the deliberations when Jake Sullivan met with Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his delegation and also with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE National Security Advisor and Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India, One readout of the meeting said: ‘’The four delegations agreed to maintain regular consultations and follow up on the matters discussed throughout the day.”

Cold War mentality

Chinese mouthpiece Global Times not surprisingly was none too pleased with the developments and said, ‘’China has been engaging with the Middle East through the Belt and Road Initiative for years. Its peacemaker role in the recent Saudi-Iran detente has been lauded by the international community, countries in the region in particular, and injected momentum of stability to the region. All these trajectories have deeply worried the US. This is the revival of the Cold War mentality in the Middle East. The plan is a deliberate containment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Blitzindiamedia News Subscription

Popular News

Plugin Install : Popular Post Widget need JNews - View Counter to be installed
World's first weekly chronicle of development news

© 2023 Blitz India Media -BlitzIndia Building A New Nation

Navigate Site

  • About us
  • Contact
  • Videos
  • Team
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Economy
  • News
  • Nation builder
  • Rising India
  • G20 podium
  • Multilateral
  • Education
  • Globetrotting
  • New India
  • Social
  • Team
  • Download
  • Videos
  • UK Edition
  • Hindi

© 2023 Blitz India Media -BlitzIndia Building A New Nation

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Google
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In