IMEC Gets Fresh US Backing: India-Middle East-Europe Corridor Still a Work in Progress
On 25 September 2026, at the UN General Assembly in New York, the US President said the US strongly supports the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
The US linked this support to the need for trade and energy routes that do not depend on risky sea passages like the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. Attacks on commercial ships in the region have shown how easily these routes can be blocked.
IMEC was announced in September 2023 at the G20 Summit in New Delhi. It plans to link India to the Gulf by sea, and the Gulf to Europe by rail and sea. It also includes electricity cables, digital cables and clean hydrogen pipelines.
India's Commerce Ministry has estimated (April 2025) that IMEC could cut logistics costs by up to 30% and transport time by 40%.
Progress has been slow. The Israel-Hamas war that began in October 2023 and the later US-Iran conflict have made the region unstable. Saudi Arabia and Israel have not normalised relations, and the route needs both.
For India, IMEC would give a second route to European markets. Today, much of India's trade with Europe goes through the Red Sea, which has faced repeated security problems.
India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, is a planned trade route that will connect India to Europe through the Arabian Peninsula. Goods will go by ship from Indian ports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), by train across Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel, and then by ship again from Israel to Europe. Along the same path, the partners also plan to lay electricity cables, digital data cables and pipelines for clean hydrogen. So IMEC is not one road or one railway: it is a bundle of connections.
The fresh US backing at the UN General Assembly gives IMEC new political support at a time when the region's sea routes feel unsafe. Attacks on shipping and tension around Hormuz and the Red Sea have strengthened the argument for a second route between India and Europe. But the corridor still depends on peace in West Asia and on Saudi-Israel relations, so it remains a work in progress.
Strait of Hormuz: Geography and Strategic Significance
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea passage between Iran in the north and Oman in the south. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Most of the oil and gas exported by Gulf countries must pass through it. That is why it is called the world's most important oil chokepoint.
The US backing for IMEC named Hormuz as one of the risky sea routes the world depends on too much. IMEC's rail link across Saudi Arabia starts from UAE ports such as Fujairah, which lies outside the strait on the Gulf of Oman. So IMEC could help trade and energy flows avoid part of the Gulf's biggest chokepoint.
- US backing for IMEC stated at the UN General Assembly, New York: 25 September 2026
- IMEC announced: 9 September 2023, G20 Summit, New Delhi; 8 signatories
- Route: Indian ports → UAE (Fujairah, Jebel Ali) → rail via Saudi Arabia and Jordan → Haifa (Israel) → Piraeus (Greece) → Europe
- Estimated gains: up to 30% lower logistics cost, 40% less transit time (India's Commerce Ministry, April 2025)
- India-UAE IGFA on IMEC: 13 February 2024
- Suez Canal: about 12% of global trade
- Strait of Hormuz: about 33 km wide at its narrowest; about 20% of global oil consumption passes through it
- Abraham Accords: 15 September 2020 (Israel with UAE, Bahrain, Morocco)
- China's BRI launched 2013; Italy exited in December 2023