Iran and India have agreed to speed up the development of Chabahar Port which New Delhi views as a gateway to access Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Indian Foreign Minister announced the news after meeting officials in Tehran where the two sides took stock of the state of bilateral relations after the US reimposition of sanctions on Iran.
“Just concluded a very productive #IndiaIran Joint Commission Meeting,” Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted on Sunday after the joint commission meeting in Tehran.
“Reviewed the entire gamut of our cooperation. Agreed on accelerating our Chabahar project,” he added.
The Indian foreign minister and Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also inked an agreement to accelerate work on the south-eastern Iranian port of Chabahar.
Under US pressure, India has stopped buying oil from Iran, one of its top suppliers. Although Chabahar Port has been exempted from the sanctions that the US reimposed last year unilaterally on Iran, India has moved gingerly on its long-standing dream of extending New Delhi’s reach to Afghanistan, Central Asia, Russia and Europe via the Iranian port.
The rare exemption provided by the US is due to the pivotal role the port is about to play in bringing landlocked Afghanistan out of isolation. Afghans hope it could boost their war-torn country’s trade and lay the foundations for tapping into billions of dollars worth of mineral reserves.
Afghanistan exported fruit to India through Chabahar for the first time in September 2019. The exported fruit contained 20 tons of Afghan grapes that took a week to arrive in Iran.
For Indians, the project is on course to change the whole economic geography of the region because it gives them direct unobstructed access to Central Asia and beyond.
Launched in 2016 between Iran, Afghanistan and India, the project has faced repeated holdups, however, almost stalling after the US reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic in May 2018.
The map shows how Chabahar Port in Iran can link India with Afghanistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his country would spend $500 million to develop Chabahar and related infrastructure to boost growth and spur the unhindered flow of commerce in the region.
India wants to develop two terminals with five berths at the Shahid Beheshti area in Chabahar. It plans to build a 600-meter cargo terminal and a 640-meter container terminal, but only a portion of the two berths have been finished.
Last December, India took over operations at part of the Shahid Beheshti port, according to officials of the two countries.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said in a joint news conference with Jaishankar that the project would boost trade in the region.
“Completing the Chabahar-Zahedan railway and connecting it to Iran’s national railway can elevate the position of Chabahar port, revolutionize regional commerce and help transport goods on a cheaper and shorter route,” he said.
Rouhani said Iran and India have to continue bilateral cooperation and not allow the United States to stand in the way of their relations with unilateral sanctions.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar have agreed to speed up development of Iran's port at Chabahar. (Photo: AFP)