A newly announced US-led infrastructure project with India, Europe and the Middle East will energise economic development through improved connectivity and integration between Asia, the Persian Gulf and Europe, according to its proponents.

The ambitious plans bear a strong similarity to China's bigger Belt and Road Initiative, and if completed, would be seen as a challenge to the Chinese strategy.

But some observers have cast doubt over prospects for the US-led project, with several of its predecessors having already evaporated.

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The highlight of the project - which did not refer to China directly - is a rail and shipping corridor that would connect India with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and ultimately the European Union, to enable greater trade among the countries, including in energy and digital products.

It was announced at this month's Group of 20 Summit, which the Chinese and Russian presidents did not attend.

"It's a big deal. It's a really big deal. This project will contribute to making the Middle East a more prosperous, stable and integrated region," US President Joe Biden said.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit where the infrastructure plan was announced. Photo: AP alt=Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and US President Joe Biden at the G20 summit where the infrastructure plan was announced. Photo: AP>

The Group of Seven - consisting of six Western states and Japan - have launched similar initiatives over recent years, including the Build Back Better World (B3W) programme in 2021, which named China as a strategic competitor, as well as its revamp - the five-year Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in 2022.

B3W focused on "human infrastructure", such as health security and gender equality, while the new project builds tangible ones, such as electricity cables, hydrogen pipelines and high-speed data cables.

According to Josef Gregory Mahoney, politics professor at East China Normal University in Shanghai, the lack of substantial results from previous proposals, like B3W, hints at the ideological - as opposed to practical - nature of the scheme.

"No one is naive enough to believe that this new plan is anything more than a campaign talking point, one that supports Biden's re-election, not unlike his grandiose rhetoric at the recent G20," Mahoney said, adding that it promoted an "anti-[belt and road] green fantasy that US policymakers can't even deliver at home, let alone overseas".