Economic and digital corridors to maritime connectivity, India and Italy building vision for future, says Italian Ambassador

New Delhi: India and Italy continue to work towards enhancing collaboration in maritime and land infrastructure in the framework of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) besides also concluding an agreement on cooperation in the maritime and port sector.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Italian Ambassador to India Antonio Bartoli hoped that the work on the "game-changer" IMEEC project would continue despite the current geopolitical crisis in the eastern Mediterranean region.

"It's a privilege to represent a vision for the future, that at the same time is deeply rooted in the past. Rome and India already traded millennia, centuries ago. Black pepper was one thing that the King of Visigoths asked Rome for as a ransom, because it was a precious and valuable good that we imported from India. So, this route has always been there. We are revitalising that perspective. This will go across the Middle East, which is a tormented area now as we have seen what is happening in Syria," said Bartoli.

Terming the corridor as a "vision for the future", the seasoned diplomat believes that the perspective of common and shared prosperity can be a factor of stabilisation and peace, also for the region embroiled in conflict currently.

"Italy is, has been, and will be the natural terminal of this corridor, especially with some ports like Trieste, which represent the gateway to the whole Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe. We are also working on a ports collaboration agreement with India that could also be game-changers in future," he added.

It was on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 that the leaders of India, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, UAE and US announced an MOU committing to work together to develop a new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that will comprise of two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and northern corridor connecting Gulf to Europe.

"The corridor will provide reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship to rail transit networks to supplement existing maritime routes. It intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, enhance economic cooperation, generate jobs and lower greenhouse gas emission, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East (West Asia)," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had stated then.

Involving multiple stakeholders, once completed, the IMEC corridor will eventually connect Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

"We are two peninsulas in the respective dimensions - you are a giant, but we are two peninsulas projecting in the respective sea, and so we are export countries, we are interested in connectivity, we are interested in stability, and so the Indo-Pacific is also a basin where you are and Mediterranean is the basin that we are. But, the two basins are connected in the area that is Indo-Mediterranean and this area represents 70 per cent of the trade of goods and services, 60 per cent of foreign direct investments, and so it's not by chance that we are engaged together," states the Italian Ambassador.

"And, when I say IMEC, it is not only about railways and ships but also the internet because there is also a digital corridor. Our Telecom Sparkle, an Italian company, is completing the pause of a cable that will unite Mumbai, connect Mumbai to Geneva in Italy, and then Mumbai to Singapore. So, it's a high-speed data highway, that will be another factor of connectivity. The reasons, as you see, are ancient, rooted in the past, and projected into the future," he adds.