New Atlantist
February 10, 2025
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Continental Victory Trump can be secured with Modi
On Thursday, President Donald Trump welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House. Modi will become the fourth foreign leader to visit Pennsylvania Avenue in 1600 since Trump took office. Later, ongoing conflicts (Israel and Jordan) and one is needed by decades of military allies (Japan). Modi’s presence in these busy opening weeks reflects the administration’s assessment of the strategic importance of bilateral relations with US global interests. It follows a meeting in Washington on the day after the inauguration between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, and a few days later by a call between Trump and Modi.
Trump and Modi clearly enjoy each other’s personal companies. Other foreign leaders share Trump’s populist approach to politics rather than too many foreign leaders, with the “Howdy, Modi!” larry being held in 2019 by two leaders. So, nonetheless, Trump follows his typical playbook to improve his leverage before negotiations. The US President has attracted the attention of Indian media with a series of threats to impose tariffs. Meanwhile, they illegally deported American Indians through military planes and bondage, seizing and sanctioning hundreds of millions of people. Dollars in India’s investment. Trump will be in a position to declare some victory after the meeting, as Modi is expected to provide greater cooperation on concessions on India’s protectionist trade practices and immigration enforcement.
However, these achievements are likely to be relatively modest, so it is unlikely that they will satisfy Trump’s desire to use his bully pulpit to defend a major transformational idea. Such ideas would be particularly appealing to Trump if he could draw out his experience as a real estate developer, and if President Joe Biden could present it as something that only he could succeed, but he could do so. It’s attractive. Thankfully, such an idea exists and Trump should have the opportunity to make it his own.
The Economic Corridor of India, Middle Eastern Europe (IMEC) plans to make it cheaper, faster and far larger in the Middle East through a 21st century network of rail, maritime and infrastructure corridors. The network connects the Arabian Sea to the Mediterranean, encouraging the efficient transport of goods, energy resources and digital communications. It was presented at the 2023 Group at the 2023 (G20) Summit in New Delhi. At that point it was also announced that additional high-level multilateral conferences on the subject would begin in 60 days. Unfortunately, none of these meetings have come to fruition. The Biden administration stripped IMEC against other issues regarding its infrastructure and diplomatic agenda, and multilateral efforts are primarily based on halt.
Perhaps the most attractive US taxpayer for Trump isn’t on the hook to fund the project.
Of course, this was mainly due to Israeli wars with Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Arab government was aware of publicly promoting projects that would improve economic ties with Israel. But it doesn’t fully explain the lack of progress even behind the scenes. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India are busy anticipating IMEC to build infrastructure and reduce bilateral barriers, but far less is done across Saudi Arabia, and in Jordan and Israel Almost not achieved. The Indian government has made IMEC a top priority, but European support has been split, with Greece, Italy and France each trying to put the other side on the side to become the main IMEC gateway on the continent I’m here. Those who are worried about losing from the IMEC (Egypt) are competing but longer and therefore less efficient, using trade infrastructure programs (Iraq and Turkey, Iran, Russia) to the Arab government He questioned the wisdom of establishing an economy between the two. Dependencies on Israel and potential security vulnerabilities in the route.
But all of this could change as the Gaza ceasefire is maintained and Trump’s active support and support are maintained.
As Trump breathes new life into IMEC, he will quickly spend hundreds of billions of dollars on improving or constructing ports, roads, trains, pipelines and fiber optic cables that will expand and integrate Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia’s economies. It’s done. And the United Arab Emirates. The completed overland route reduces the number of ships passing through the Babuel Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and therefore the requirements for the US Navy to defend against Hooty attacks against shipments, the Trump Team. It counters China’s belt and road initiatives, reduces the impact of Tehran’s region, and strengthens Abraham’s agreement, perhaps the most important foreign policy achievement of Trump’s first term, and ultimately the Saudi Arabians It helps you set conditions for normalization. Perhaps the most attractive US taxpayer for Trump isn’t on the hook to fund the project. Additionally, US infrastructure companies could be the main beneficiaries of the money others spend.
Unfortunately, the US is far behind in commercial races. Government-backed European companies are rapidly organising for this opportunity, while Indian companies want to use IMEC with the strong support of Modi. In the infrastructure sector, Adani Group* appears to be in the best position for IMEC, taking 70% ownership of Israeli Haifa Port Company on one end of the route, and India’s largest on the other end It owns a commercial port. (However, on the edge of Europe, the Chinese company that the Pentagon blacklisted is the majority owner of the Greek port of Piraeus and does not present any concerns different to those raised by Trump regarding the Panama Canal. ) Similarly, Indian engineering leaders such as Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Infrastructure are equipped to develop integrated transport networks, but Indian information technology multinational companies such as Tata, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra is poised to develop robust digital infrastructure along the corridor.
Trump should not abandon this sector to India or Europe. Instead, on Thursday, Modi on his side, Trump announces his strong support for the IMEC, claiming he wants to see basic infrastructure across the region complete before the administration ends Should be. To ensure US leadership, he should be aligned with the announcement of French President Emmanuel Macron’s dedicated IMEC envoy, preferably with those with important private sector experience, and he is the same as other governments. We should be called to do this. He and Modi announced together a meeting for those envoys held in New Delhi in the spring, and perhaps the opportunity to update the relatively mo-death I2U2 group (India, Israel, USA, UAE) as well. Can be used. Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet that possibility. And finally, Trump will adopt US leverage to Rubio and his soon-to-be commercial secretary Howard Rutnick to acquire US corporate contracts to level the arena with Europe and India. You need to instruct them to organize your department.
The Trump Modi meeting on Thursday is likely already to be positive. It would really be successful if Trump used the opportunity to renew IMEC.
William F. Wexler is Senior Director of the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program. His recent position in the US government was Deputy Secretary of Defense for the fight against special operations and terrorism.
Note: The Adani Group is a donor to the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Centre.
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Image: President Donald Trump (R) arrives on June 26, 2017 for a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rose Garden in Washington’s White House. Reuters/Carlos Barrier/File Photo
