India, US and Saudi Arabia to sign major rail, port deal at G20 summit: US official

The United States, Saudi Arabia and others will sign a pact at the G20 to explore building a major railway and port project to connect the Middle East with India and Europe, US officials said Saturday.

Jon Finer, US Deputy National Security Advisor, said a memorandum of understanding would be inked to "explore a shipping and rail transportation (project) that will enable the flow of commerce, energy and data from here in India across the Middle East to Europe".

As well as Saudi Arabia and India, key participants in the project will include the United Arab Emirates and the European Union, Finer told reporters in New Delhi.

The agreement comes with Washington actively engaging with the kingdom, encouraging it to normalise ties with Israel.

"This has been the result of months of careful diplomacy, quiet, careful diplomacy, bilaterally and in multilateral settings," Finer added.

This project "has enormous potential but exactly how long it takes, I don't know," Finer added.

The agreement to discuss the project could be among the most tangible outcomes of the summit, with G20 leaders divided over Russia's war in Ukraine and gridlocked on finding an agreement to slash carbon emissions.

"While we've all read and maybe you all have written a lot of analysis about who is or isn't in Delhi for the summit, and why or why not that may be, the United States is focused on the fact that President Biden is here and rolling up his sleeves with the other G20 countries and partners to produce real results," Finer said.