Leaders of the United States, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were working to finalize a joint infrastructure deal that could be announced this weekend at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, according to an official familiar with the matter.If it comes together, the arrangement would involve ship transit between India and Saudi Arabia, then trains through Saudi Arabia and the UAE, likely to Jordan, then ship transit to Turkey and onward from there by train, according to a diplomat familiar with the negotiations.Biden is aiming to use the G20 to show participating countries that the US and its like-minded allies are better economic and security partners than China.
Axios adds that this was all Israel's idea:
The idea for the new initiative came up during talks that were held over the last 18 months in another forum called I2U2, which includes the U.S., Israel, the UAE and India, according to the two sources.
The forum was established in late 2021 to discuss strategic infrastructure projects in the Middle East and to serve as a counterweight to Beijing's growing influence in the region.
Israel raised the idea of connecting the region through railways during the I2U2 meetings over the last year. Part of the idea was to use India's expertise on such big infrastructure projects, one source said.
The Biden administration then expanded on the idea to include Saudi Arabia's participation.
But it appears that the US is excluding Israel from this unless they broker a Saudi-Israel agreement - although one is really not dependent on the other. It still sounds like the US is leaving Israel out to dry unless it does what the Biden administration demands.
Back in the 1930s, Palestine Railways advertised itself as the "Gateway to the East":
And they added a line to Lebanon in the 1940s as well.
How....normal!
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