Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday met Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and discussed in length about the IMEC. During the meeting, Netanyahu recalled his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The leaders first met privately at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem and later held an expanded meeting. According to the PMO Israel, the countries have agreed to sign a deal later this year. The deal pertains to the electricity cable (IMEC project) linking the 2 countries – and in the future, linking Cyprus with Europe.

The electricity cable, which is a part of a larger initiative to connect India with Europe, is expected to enhance Israel’s energy security and strengthen connectivity between the East and West. PM Netanyahu and PM Modi had recently held discussion on this project, which Israeli PM mentioned in an X post.

“One of the ideas that we talked about is IMEC, which is a very revolutionary and transformative development that we want to bring into place. I discussed it with Mr. Modi, Narendra Modi of India, just a few days ago. We want to have a common discussion with him,” Israeli Prime Minister posted on X.

Netanyahu further highlighted the deep ties between Israel and Cyprus. He mentioned cooperation across political, diplomatic, economic, and security fields. “We have a long friendship, not only personal but also between Cyprus and Israel. We are going to discuss our cooperation in many fields, many fields: political, diplomatic, economic, security,” he added.

What Is IMEC?

As the Israeli PM stated that Israel and Cyprus wish to have common discussion on IMEC with PM Modi, here are more details on what the project is about.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is an important initiative that is expected to enhance India’s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia. It was was launched during India’s G20 presidency and aims to integrate India, the Europe, the Middle-East through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union. The success of this project is dependent on lower logistics cost, faster connectivity, secure movement of goods and better cooperation in this area. The IMEC comprises of an Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Gulf region and a Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe. Moreover, it will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes.

During the MOU signing in 2023, PM Modi had highlighted the importance of physical, digital and financial connectivity. He had stated that IMEC would help in promoting economic integration between India and Europe. Notably, an MOU on IMEC was signed by India, USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, European Union, Italy, France and Germany.
Earlier, Union Minister Piyush Goyal had also noted that India-Mediterranean partnership will work towards economic prosperity and mutual growth for Mediterranean countries and India for a cleaner, sustainable, more resilient, secure, inclusive and brighter future for all.