By Muhammad Mehdi

 The Global South?

September 13, 2023 - 2:1

The G20 conference has come to an end in Delhi. By the way, a lot happened during this time which can become a permanent topic separately.

For example, the Indian media mentioned a statement by the Prime Minister of Italy regarding BRI, the Prime Minister of Canada spoke about Khalistan while standing in the Indian capital and when the rights of Sikh in Canada holding a referendum on Khalistan. But at this time, I would like to discuss the concept of the Global South that President Biden arrived in Delhi with this concept, and the leadership of the Global South will be handed over to India according to Washington’s vision. 

For Pakistan, any situation that affects our region is extremely important because we are affected by it whether we like it or not. The Global South's vision is to prepare India to compete with China's BRI project. 

Now India does not have enough economic size to be able to do this on its own account, so its economic needs will be fulfilled by the US as much as it needs compared to China.

Now this is the next and very important question, whether the US economy under the debt of 7.6 trillion dollars has enough power to meet these needs or not? In order to promote the concept of the Global South, an MOU was signed during the G20 summit in India.

This economic corridor project will connect ports and rail links to the Middle East, Israel and Europe. The project is being named as India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor.

It includes America, India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the European Union, etc. The goal of this project is to connect India's ports with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, etc. by developing a large-scale rail network and then get access to Israel and Europe from there. And apart from the Suez Canal, another route should be developed while China's BRI project should also be made a response to it.

Discussions on this project started in 2021 at the One two U two Business Forum between the United States, India, the UAE and Israel, and later Saudi Arabia also joined these discussions. When the Abraham Accords was being signed between certain Arab countries and Israel under the patronage of the United States, I said that it should not be seen only in the context of the Arab countries and Israel, but it will have far-reaching consequences on our region and that has started happening.

Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel, but it has recognized Israel's position in this agreement. Now, what does America want to achieve by including the Arab countries in it? It is clear that through the BRI project, China's footprints are clearly visible on the Arab land.  

This is not only limited to economic matters, but by standing with Saudi Arabia and Iran, China has given a clear message that now its political position has also become strong in this region and the UAE and Saudi Arabia have also joined BRICS, which also includes India, but its souls are China and Russia.

America cannot afford such a situation. When the Ottoman Empire disintegrated as a result of the First World War, the British shadow remained over the Arab region from that time until the end of the Second World War, and then later the United States replaced the United Kingdom and enjoyed its position solely. But China's recent successes have put many question marks on the presence of American supremacy in this region and its future, and the United States is taking steps to maintain its supremacy by presenting the concept of the Global South. And in order to achieve this goal, India is being encouraged.

Narendra Modi will face polls and in order to win he needs to put his nation behind a truck light similar to what he has achieved by holding this conference and promoting this economic corridor. This is called a political slogan because there is a very strong belief that the current US economy, which will have a debt of 7.6 trillion dollars by the end of next year, is not strong enough to support this project. 

Regarding the same thing that happened to the New Silk route project announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama era, an economic route would be made from Afghanistan, but then it could never be implemented. The real goal of the current plan seems to be to confuse the Arab world with the fact that America is coming down a new path and to make them think about how far they should go with China and how much should be carried forward. If America succeeds in getting the Arab countries into this mess, it will be a success. Because these Arab countries are concerned about their internal and international security, and they still depend on America.

Although top-level Arab diplomats will often say that we want to make agreements with Pakistan regarding our security, Pakistan has not yet been able to recover from its internal situation. The Arab world will gradually be impressed by India if Pakistan continues to weaken. In Pakistan, if instead of taking cosmetic measures, we want to move towards correct measures in the real sense, then there is a need to make an agreement with the Arab world regarding security, which is also possible. But the ability to make this agreement will not be achieved by those who will come to the government as a result of an experiment like the failed experiment of 2018, but this goal can only be achieved by a leader who has public support in the real sense.

The views expressed in this article are those of the writer

 Muhammad Mehdi is the Chairman of the Institute of International Relations and Media Research.