The Prime Minister’s recent two-day visit to New Delhi to participate in the India AI Impact Summit is not just another international technology conference he has attended. On the contrary, it constitutes a move with a clear dual impact, on the one hand, including Greece in the dialogue on the global governance of artificial intelligence and on the other hand, acting as a diplomatic lever for our country to participate in one of the most ambitious geopolitical plans of our time, the IMEC (India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor).
More specifically, IMEC was designed as an alternative, faster trade and connectivity bridge between India, the Middle East, and Europe, with strong political support from the US and the EU, as reflected in the relevant Memorandum of Understanding signed at the G20 in September 2023.
In an environment where China has systematically invested in its own corridor (Belt and Road Initiative), IMEC functions for the West as a competitive corridor, not only in transport but also in energy and digital connectivity. Its value is therefore reflected not only in quantities and delivery times, but also in geopolitical influence, terms of trade, security standards, and technological value chains.
In this context, Greece has the geographical location, ports, and maritime know-how to claim the role of India’s European gateway, provided it further modernizes specific infrastructures, such as logistics, rail connections, the digitalization of customs, as well as the ability to offer reliability in an era when supply chains are seeking resilience.
However, IMEC’s success depends on factors beyond the control of the main participants in the project, such as instability in the Middle East, navigation risks, and political tensions, which directly affect the venture’s progress and commercial attractiveness.
In fact, it is no coincidence that recent international interventions directly link the promotion of the corridor to the need for stabilization in the wider Middle East region. However, this does not invalidate the existing plan. On the contrary, it increases the value of any reliable partner, such as Greece, which can offer a safe investment environment, robust infrastructure, and compliance with European standards.
In this regard, the importance of the Sea2Sea project must be emphasized, which is promoted as an alternative corridor connecting ports in the northeastern Aegean with those in the Black Sea, bypassing bottlenecks and elevating Northern Greece’s position on the map of cargo flows.
In short, the more Greece can offer multiple exits and alternative routes at the logistics level, the more convincingly it can claim an upgraded role in the new IMEC corridor, with strong connectivity to the rest of Europe.
On the economic side, this benefits investments in infrastructure and logistics, new, more specialized jobs, and the strengthening of domestic added value in transit, storage, services, and transport insurance, supported by the transition to artificial intelligence.
In addition, geostrategically, Greece is strengthening its role as a stable hub in the Eastern Mediterranean for both India and the US through broader strategic alliances.
In conclusion, Greece has a significant opportunity to connect its future agenda to high technology, such as artificial intelligence, while providing power through new infrastructure and energy corridors, aiming to position itself as an equal strategic partner on the global stage.
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