G20 Summit: US, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, EU scheduled to announce railway, ports connectivity agreement

A shipping and rail transportation corridor connecting countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe is expected to be revealed on the sidelines of the present G20 Summit in New Delhi, according to a White House official.
The United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, and other G20 partners are planning to investigate a shipping and rail transportation corridor that will aid in the movement of trade, energy, and data from India via the Middle East to Europe.
According to White House Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is anticipated to be announced today at a conference focusing on global infrastructure on the sidelines of the G20.
The leaders are convening to address the global economy and supply chain concerns, as well as other global issues.
After it is signed, this agreement could be viewed as an alternate supply chain in a completely evolved post-pandemic world system.
Finer added that President Biden and Prime Minister Modi will meet with other leaders for an event focused on global infrastructure later today.
“The deal will benefit low and middle-income countries in the region, and enable a critical role for the Middle East in global commerce. We see this as having a high appeal to the countries involved, and also globally, because it is transparent because it is a high standard because it is not coercive,” Finer told mediapersons here.
Delving more on the initiative, Finer noted it was not just a railway project but more of a shipping and railway project.
“It is not just the Railway project, it is a shipping and Railway project and it is important for people to understand how expansive, ambitious and ground-breaking this will be” Finer added.
Finer termed this to-be-built project as “affirmative positive” aimed at serving the underserved.
“The way we see the infra project, it is an affirmative positive project. It has appeal for countries underserved by infra. We are not asking countries to make a zero-sum choice. We have seen other efforts that are not as ambitious, we feel good about contrast of what we provide,” White House Deputy National Security Advisor said.
The infrastructure deal is expected to connect countries in the Middle East via a network of railways. The network will also connect to India through shipping lanes from ports in the region.