(Reuters) – The Israel-Gaza conflict is a “worrying manifestation” of geopolitical challenges for the U.S.-backed multinational economic corridor, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.
In September, global leaders announced a rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia, as the U.S. seeks to counter China’s Belt and Road push on global infrastructure with a new economic corridor.
The proposed corridor will pass through Israel, which has been engaged in a fierce conflict with Hamas in the Gaza strip, in retaliation for the militants’ cross-border assault into Israel on Oct. 7.
“It (the corridor) is not without its geopolitical challenges and the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza is a worrying manifestation of these,” Sitharaman said during a conference.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya; Writing by Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger)
