IMEC Still Moving Despite West Asia Turmoil: France's Special Envoy on a "Network of Complementary Routes"
France's special envoy for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Gérard Mestrallet, said in New Delhi on 6 October 2026 that work on IMEC has continued even during recent difficulties in West Asia.
He pointed to the conflicts involving Gaza and Iran, and the disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as the kind of shocks the corridor is meant to handle.
He described IMEC as "a network of complementary routes": roads, railways and shipping lines. If one route faces a blockage or an accident, goods can move on another route. In other words, IMEC is designed for resilience (the ability to keep working when something goes wrong).
IMEC was launched in September 2023 at the G20 Summit in New Delhi. Its partners include India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, the European Union, France, Germany and Italy.
Italy's special envoy for IMEC, Francesco Talò, has earlier described India as central to the project, both as a large market and as a major producer.
India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)
IMEC is a planned trade route linking India to Europe through the Arabian Peninsula. Goods would go by ship from Indian west-coast ports to the UAE, by rail across Saudi Arabia and Jordan to Israel, and by ship again from Israel's Haifa port across the Mediterranean to Europe. Along the same path, partners also plan electricity cables, digital data cables and clean hydrogen pipelines. Its main purpose is to give India-Europe trade a second route besides the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
Mestrallet's "network of complementary routes" idea is the core logic of IMEC. Sea traffic between India and Europe today depends on a few narrow chokepoints. IMEC adds land and sea options so that one blockage does not stop all trade. His comments signal that partners see the recent West Asian crises as a reason to push IMEC, even though the same conflicts also slow its construction.
Strait of Hormuz: Geography and Strategic Significance
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea passage between Iran in the north and Oman's Musandam Peninsula in the south. It connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, which opens into the Arabian Sea. It is the only sea exit for the oil and gas of most Gulf countries, which makes it the world's most important oil "chokepoint". When traffic through it is blocked, fuel prices rise across the world, including in India.
The Hormuz disruption showed how dangerous it is to depend on one narrow sea passage. IMEC's Eastern Corridor can use UAE ports such as Fujairah, which lie outside the strait, and then move goods overland by rail. This is exactly the kind of alternative route the French envoy had in mind when he spoke of routes that can replace each other during a crisis.
Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)
The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, or PGII, is a plan by the G7 group of rich democracies to help poorer and middle-income countries build good-quality infrastructure: railways, ports, power lines, digital networks and health systems. It was launched in June 2022 with a goal of mobilising US$600 billion by 2027. Most of this money is not meant to be government grants. Instead, governments use a smaller amount of public money to attract much larger private investment. PGII is widely seen as the West's answer to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
IMEC is one of PGII's flagship corridors, which is why France, Italy, Germany, the EU and the US all have a stake in it. The French envoy's message that IMEC keeps moving despite the West Asian crises reflects the PGII idea of building several connected, resilient routes rather than relying on a single chokepoint.
- IMEC launched: 9 September 2023, G20 Summit, New Delhi (MoU, not legally binding)
- IMEC signatories (8): India, US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, Germany, Italy, EU
- French special envoy for IMEC: Gérard Mestrallet; Italian special envoy: Francesco Talò
- IMEC route: Indian ports → UAE → rail across Saudi Arabia and Jordan → Haifa (Israel) → Mediterranean → Europe (Piraeus, Marseille)
- India-UAE Inter-Governmental Framework Agreement on IMEC: 13 February 2024
- PGII: G7, launched June 2022 at Schloss Elmau; target US$600 billion by 2027
- Strait of Hormuz: between Iran and Oman; about 39 km wide at the narrowest point; about one-fifth of world oil flows through it