India, Greece discuss Operationalisation of IMEC corridor; collaboration in shipbuilding

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bilateral meeting with his Greek counterpart Christos Stylianides on Monday wherein they discussed the operationalisation of the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

During the meeting, Sonowal also invited Greek shipping companies to play a significant role in its shipbuilding industry. The meeting was held on the sidelines of ORF's Sagarmanthan, the Great Oceans Dialogue.

The discussion touched on the IMEC, which was agreed upon during the G20 summit last year.

Talking to reporters following the meeting, Sonowal said: "We had a discussion on IMEC. The IMEC corridor was decided during the G20 meeting last year. We will take all the steps required to operationalize [it]."

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a new trade route connecting India, the Middle East, and Europe. Announced in 2023, it aims to improve trade, transport, and communication between these regions through a network of railways and sea routes. The project is designed to make trade faster and more efficient, boosting economic ties and reducing reliance on longer routes.

Praising Greece's global stature in the shipping industry, Sonowal expressed India's interest in fostering Greek investments.

" We have welcomed Greek minister here at Sagarmanthan. We are building on the agenda set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart during their bilateral meeting," Sonowal noted.

"In the shipping sector, Greece has a leadership. We want Greece companies to operate in India and play an important role in the shipbuilding sector," he stated.

Stylianides also shared a positive outlook on the meeting, emphasizing their shared goals amidst global geopolitical shifts and the importance of practical initiatives that benefit both nations.

He remarked, "After the excellent meetings between our ministers and our Prime Ministers, we found practical initiatives and decided to collaborate, especially in shipping and maritime affairs."

Earlier this year in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos MitsotakisDuring his visit to India, Mitsotakis asserted that despite the Israeli war in Gaza "destabilising" plans for the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC), India and Greece should persevere with the "peace project".

"The war in Gaza and turmoil in the Middle East is undoubtably destabilising but it does not undermine the powerful logic behind IMEC. Nor should it weaken our resolve to work towards realising it," Mitsotakis had told a gathering of international delegates at the conference organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).