New Joint Railway Network in West Asia

On May 7, 2023, the National Security Advisors (NSAs) of the United States of America (USA), India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) in Riyadh. The NSAs meeting focused on repairing USA ties with Saudi Arabia, facilitating the normalization of Saudis relations with Israel, and expanding the infrastructure connectivity in the region. Mainly, in the context of infrastructure project, USA’s NSA made a push for the joint infrastructure project to connect Gulf (UAE and Saudi Arabia), Arab (Jordan) countries, and Israel via a network of railways that would be connected to India via shipping lanes from ports in the region. Israel first proposed this idea for the connectivity and joint infrastructure projects during I2U2 inaugural virtual meeting held on July 14, 2022.[i][ii] The project will be a game changer regarding connectivity between West and South Asia. The interests of the participant countries in the project are diverse and related to meeting their national interests. In its report, an American digital news outlet, Axios, stated that the project aims to “counter China’s growing influence in the region.”[iii] While the USA wants to counter China’s increasing influence in the region and promote the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia desire to follow pragmatism in their economic, security, and geo-strategic foreign policies. For India, it gives greater connectivity to West Asia, Europe and Africa. Nevertheless, the project will undoubtedly benefit the countries in terms of connectivity. The paper aims to discuss the joint railway network and its implications.

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Identifying the interests of USA, India, Saudi Arabia, and UAE
The USA’s rapprochement in the region is to reclaim the ground it is losing to China. The USA desires to implement this project because it would help repair ties with Saudi Arabia.[iv] The perceived disengagement of the USA from the region has pushed Saudi Arabia closer to China. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are engaged in BRI projects. Besides, the USA’s concerns have increased since China brokered the Saudi Arabia-Iran deal. Notably, the meeting between the National Security Advisors in Riyadh was held following the signing of the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia on March 10, 2023. In this context, the joint railway project has become crucial for the USA to not only strengthen its relations with the Arab World but also debunk the perception among the Arab States that it is disengaging from West Asia. The project is one of the pillars of President Joe Biden’s administration’s strategy in West Asia for regional integration. Through the project, the USA wants to connect South and West Asia and advance its financial, technological, and diplomatic power. Also, President Biden seeks to bring about a possible normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia through this significant infrastructure initiative.

While USA’s agenda seems to reclaim its influence in the region through countering China, Saudi Arabia and UAE are showing pragmatism based on protecting and promoting their national interests. The two countries are more interested in developing their national economies and diversification of the base of their economy from oil to green energy resources. They have already constructed internal rail networks to connect their countries. Given the changing geopolitics of the West Asia region, UAE, Bahrain, and Israel signed the Abraham Accords brokered by the USA in 2020, opening the normalization of the Arab World’s relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia took the initiative to bring Syria back to the Arab World in May 2023 to promote the stability and security of the region. Saudi Arabia and UAE have realized that regional connectivity through high-intensity infrastructure projects requires regional political stability and security. Following the Riyadh Meeting, Saudi Arabia issued a statement that focuses on the economic growth and stability in the region.[v]

For India, the new railway infrastructure project can provide a remarkable opportunity to capture a more significant share of trade flows from Africa, West Asia, and Europe. The China-brokered Saudi Arabia and Iran rapprochement has potential implications for India’s interests in West Asia, particularly its energy security. Regarding connectivity, the project gives an alternative route to India in addition to the North-South Transport Corridor and the Suez Canal to reach Europe. It will help India to ship goods to Israel’s northern town of Beit She’an and then to Haifa port. From there, goods would be shipped to Greece’s Piraeus Port, one of the largest ports in Europe, from where India could access the entire European continent.

In addition, the project will allow faster movement of crude oil and minimize India’s costs in the long term. This joint railway linking Mumbai to Piraeus port in Greece via Haifa in Israel would cut the transit time from Mumbai to Piraeus from 17 to 10 days.[vi] The project will use Indian railways’ human resources capacity to build the network to connect Europe and Asia.[vii] The connectivity project has the potential to contribute to West Asia region’s food security.

Responses to the Joint Railways Project
Sceptics have raised doubts regarding the project. For instance, the former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman, described the plan as “a fantasy foreign policy rather than a serious infrastructure initiative.” Freeman also questioned the project’s practicability and financing, given that the US was not known for building railways.[viii]
Regarding the project’s financing, a roadmap is yet to be issued, which will establish the mechanism to pool the resources for the project. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not made any public statement so far on the project. Finally, it is important to note that these Gulf countries are active partners in the BRI. In 2022, China built a new railway track that connected its Ningxia province with West Asia. It is the first Sea-Rail intermodal freight train to Iran. It passes through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, and Iran.[ix] Besides, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times published an editorial that stated that “I2U2, together with QUAD and AUKUS, constitutes the US’ global strategy to contain China”.[x] The pro-China media is critical of the project’s feasibility and operational capacity.
One of the fundamental obstacles to the project is that Israel has not yet become part of it because of the lack of normalization of its relations with countries in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia. The project will be based on public and private partnerships that will require mechanisms to mobilize the resources.

Conclusion
Nevertheless, the project is a serious attempt by the USA, India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to protect and promote a rule-based world order. A joint initiative based on cooperation is the best way to promote economic development, regional security, and connectivity. It could enhance economic ties and cultural exchange between the Gulf States, Arab countries, and India.