India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, is India's boldest connectivity bet since it began looking west - a ship-to-rail highway meant to carry goods, data, electricity and clean fuel from Indian ports through the Arabian Gulf and Israel into Europe, sidestepping the Suez Canal. Unveiled at the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, it promises faster, cheaper trade and a democratic counter to China's Belt and Road. Its problem is geography: the very Middle East it must cross is where war erupted in 2025-26, leaving the corridor long on vision and short on steel.