The announcement at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023 of “The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” – a new strategic initiative by the United States, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and India to construct a transport corridor between India and Europe – can become a solid alternative to the Chinese project “One belt is one road”, Alona Lebedieva, the owner of the multidisciplinary industrial and investment group of companies Aurum Group, says.
“India has long been considered by both Europe and the USA as a geopolitical counterweight and a future “substitute” for China in the new model of world economic growth. The announced project opens up very wide opportunities for India in the geo-economic sense. The economic corridor will make it a new global player, thus allowing not only to position itself as a real competitor to China, but to “bypass” Pakistan, with which India, as you know, does not have very friendly relations,” – Alona Lebedieva explained.
“The construction of the transport corridor should be considered as a way to connect the key regions of the world, India and Europe, which opens new trade partnerships and stimulates the supply of energy resources. The project also provides for the construction of a pipeline network to transport hydrogen, for the creation of a system of cables to transmit digital data and electricity. This is a matter of serious economic feasibility in the long term, – Alona Lebedieva noted, – Thanks to the construction of a number of railway routes and the development of port infrastructure, the project will eventually be able to become one of the fastest routes to deliver goods to the EU, which will increase the volume of trade between India and Europe, according to preliminary estimates, by 40%”.
Among the important aspects of the announced project, Alona Lebedieva noted the “powerful” cover by the US, which, in her opinion, “reduces the risks of a strategic and military nature.”
Commenting on the results of the G20 summit, the owner of Aurum Group, Alona Lebedieva, also drew attention to the general tendency to “reduce the significance” of the forum due to the absence of some state leaders, in particular, the leader of China, and the “too lengthy” final document.
Aurum Group, a Ukrainian multidisciplinary industrial and investment group of companies, works in the fields of railway car construction, rolling stock repair, railway freight transportation, industrial pump construction, chemical industry, real estate, and agriculture. The turnover of the companies in the pre-war year of 2021 amounted to USD 50 million.