Advertisement
Can US rail plan woo Middle East states away from China’s belt and road?
- Ambitious proposal to link the Gulf and Arab countries with India may not be enough to counter Beijing’s influence, observers say
- Former US ambassador calls the massive infrastructure project ‘hare-brained’ while others predict it will be greeted with caution in the region
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
86
An American plan to counter China’s influence in the Middle East by bringing a massive infrastructure project to the table is likely to be met with wary eyes in the region, analysts said.
Advertisement
The ambitious proposal – to connect Gulf and Arab countries with India through a network of ports and railways – has been likened to China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan was in Saudi Arabia earlier this month to discuss the plan with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and national security advisers from the United Arab Emirates and India.
Galia Lavi, a US-China relations expert at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel, said Washington’s railway investment in the Middle East was a demonstration of its continued involvement in the region.
“Contrary to rumours about the US leaving the Middle East, Washington is still here and active,” she said.
Advertisement
Online news outlet Axios reported that the infrastructure proposal came out of discussions by the I2U2 Group, a coalition of the US, the UAE, India and Israel established in 2021.
Advertisement