IMEC initiative on track despite conflict in West Asia, says Foreign Secretary ahead of PM’s visit to Saudi Arabia

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses a press conference regarding the upcoming two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in New Delhi on April 19, 2025.
| Photo Credit: MEA via PTI Photo

The Israel-Palestine conflict will not impact the plans for an India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Saturday (April 19, 2025), while presenting an overview of India’s relations with Saudi Arabia which will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Indian officials on April 22 and 23.

“Frankly speaking, I don’t necessarily see any organic linkage between these two issues. India’s position on the two-state solution is a long-held position. I don’t think there is any need to restate anything to this at this stage. In IMEC, work can proceed in parallel. The security situation impacts only certain areas at a particular point in time. It is possible to do work on this particular project in a distributed fashion,” Mr. Misri said, addressing a press event about Mr. Modi’s trip.

The IMEC project was started during the G-20 summit in September 2023 in New Delhi but received an evident setback just weeks later with the eruption of the Israel-Palestine conflict on October 7, 2023. Mr. Misri said that though the required groundwork could not be done after the signing of the framework agreement in 2023, individual countries have made some forward movement in “infrastructure linkages”. He added that work is going to start imminently on connecting electricity grids, which he described as one of the “major pillars of the IMEC initiative”.

‘Working with select partners’

“The security situation in the region makes it seem as if progress has frozen on IMEC but we have been working with select partners,” Mr. Misri said, explaining that India is also working to control the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“India has remained involved with all the principal actors in this issue – Palestine, Israel as well as regional leaders like Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia itself,” Mr. Misri said, explaining that India is engaged in ensuring humanitarian supplies and freeing Israeli hostages.

The Foreign Secretary said that the PM’s visit to Saudi Arabia would provide an opportunity to “exchange notes” on regional and global issues, including the threat to navigation posed by the Houthi rebels.

Energy agreements likely

This will be Mr. Modi’s third visit to Saudi Arabia, following previous trips in 2016 and 2019. He will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. “The visit is important on account of the obvious significance of Saudi Arabia as the strategic partner of India,” Mr. Misri said, citing the role that Saudi Arabia plays in India’s energy security as well as the large expat Indian population that the kingdom hosts.

“Saudi Arabia is a leading voice in the Islamic world and is increasingly playing an important role in regional developments,” Mr. Misri, pointing to the kingdom’s role in bringing Russia and the United States to the negotiating table.

In the recent past, Saudi Arabia and India have started deepening defence ties. “We had the first ever joint land forces exercise between the two countries in 2024. Two editions have been held of joint naval exercises,” Mr. Misri said, pointing to capacity building as an area where India has been supporting Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth largest trading partner and one of India’s top energy suppliers. The total trade between the two countries was about $43 billion during the financial year 2023-2024. Mega infrastructure projects in the kingdom are gaining from the involvement of Indian companies, Mr. Misri said. “We are looking at infusing more strategic outlook in the strategic partnership between the two countries and we expect the forthcoming visit will have some development related to this as well,” the Foreign Secretary said, indicating that energy agreements are likely to be signed during the PM’s visit, apart from several MoUs.