Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the recently announced India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor is a strategic and economic game changer for India and others.

While presenting the Interim Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on Thursday, the Minister quoted the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi saying that the corridor “will become the basis of world trade for hundreds of years to come, and history will remember that this corridor was initiated on Indian soil”. 

Highlighting the global context, Nirmala Sitharaman said that geopolitically, global affairs are becoming more complex and challenging with wars and conflicts.

She noted that globalization is being redefined with reshoring and friend-shoring, disruption and fragmentation of supply chains, and competition for critical minerals and technologies.

"A new world order is emerging after the COVID-19 pandemic," she added.

The Minister stated that India assumed G20 Presidency during very difficult times for the world.

She highlighted that the global economy was going through high inflation, high interest rates, low growth, very high public debt, low trade growth, and climate challenges.

She said that the pandemic had led to a crisis of food, fertilizer, fuel and finances for the world, while India successfully navigated its way.

Sitharaman said that the country showed the way forward and built consensus on solutions for those global problems.