India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval recently met his counterparts from the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Riyadh to discuss an ambitious proposal being pushed by the White House to link West Asian countries through rail and connect the region to South Asia via sea lanes, according to a report by Indian express.
As per the report, this is among the key initiatives the White House wants to push in the Middle East as China’s influence in the region grows. The Middle East is a key part of China’s Belt and Road vision.
As per an American news website Axios, the US is discussing plans for the railway network, as one of its key initiatives in the Middle East to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
The idea for the new initiative came up during talks that were held over the last 18 months in another forum called I2U2, which includes the US, Israel, the UAE and India. President Joe Biden’s administration expanded on the idea to include Saudi Arabia, the US website said.
As per the Indian express report, this has potential implications for India’s interests in West Asia, which provides energy security. Such connectivity will allow for faster movement of the crude and minimise India’s costs in the long term.
“The connectivity boost will also help India’s eight million citizens who live and work in the Gulf region,” the report added.
The co-operation between India, the US, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will also help to counter the Chinese Belt and Road project, which has burdened many countries in the region with infrastructure that has limited utility.