India is planning to built a massive connectivity with Middle East to counter growing China’s influence in the region, the report in NDTV said.
According to the report, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held a meeting with his US and UAE counterparts, which was also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
It said the leaders discussed a joint infrastructure project that would connect the Middle Eastern countries via rail.
“The ambitious connectivity project aims to link the Middle East to India through roads, rails, and seaports. The idea emerged during meetings of the I2U2 group - which also includes Israel - over the last year,” it said.
“The I2U2 group - a relatively new vehicle for US-India cooperation in the Middle East - was not envisioned as a China-focused entity, given the close commercial cooperation that both the UAE and Israel enjoy with China,”it added.
It stated Saudi Arabia hasn't formalized relations with Israel, which means the latter isn't a formal part of the project, but its membership in I2U2 suggests it will have a role.
“The connectivity project shows just how much India benefits from the Abraham Accords, the Trump-era agreement that normalized relations between Israel and several of its Arab neighbours,” it said.
“The deal allowed for the establishment of the I2U2 group, and discussions there gave rise to the new initiative,” it said.
It mentioned: “The proposed initiative signals that India and the United States are ready to take their joint efforts to counter China beyond the Indo-Pacific region and into the Middle East”.
"Nobody said it out loud, but it was about China from day one,"the report quoted Israeli official as having said.
“The connectivity project aims to leverage India's capacity as an infrastructure provider. Its track record includes the construction of the world's largest rail system and contributions to cross-border electricity-sharing arrangements. Through the new initiative, Indian officials hope to develop a deeper infrastructure footprint in the Middle East to counter China's BRI,” it said.
“According to one assessment, in a best-case scenario, India could eventually benefit from land and sea trade routes stretching from Israel and the UAE all the way to Greece's Piraeus port and onward into Europe,” it said.
It added: “India wants to participate in a new multilateral effort to push back against China's growing Middle East footprint - driven by Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments and by a recent strategic agreement with Iran”.
