India and UAE Ink Deal To Create Trade Corridor Linking Europe Through the Middle East

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken a significant step toward enhancing regional connectivity and economic integration by signing an agreement on Tuesday to establish a trade corridor linking Europe to India via the Middle East. The accord, announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Gulf state, aims to facilitate trade through a sea and rail network stretching from India across the Arabian Sea to the UAE, and then overland through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel to Europe. While specifics of the agreement remain sparse, the Indian Foreign Ministry underscored its potential to build on historical ties and cooperation between India and the UAE, fostering greater regional connectivity. This initiative, which debuted at the G20 summit in New Delhi last September, is supported by both the US and the European Union and could serve as a counterbalance to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Additionally, it emerges amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza and regional tensions, including threats to maritime security in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi movement. The UAE and India also signed a bilateral investment treaty and exchanged agreements on electrical interconnection, trade, and digital infrastructure, marking a deepening of their strategic partnership.