115 political delegates and businessmen and women from doznes of countries are participating in the high-level event that is being held in Chabahar Port, on the Sea of Oman that leads to the Indian Ocean.
Secretary of the Shipping Ministry of India will lead the Indian delegation with Confederation of Indian Industry taking a strong business delegation of 30 Indian companies, according to Indian media.
The celebrations comes as the first cargo of Afghan exports, destined for India, to be exported via the port arrived there during the early hours of Tuesday.
First Afghan export cargo arrives in Iran's Chabahar Port (video: @llmhurtado)
The export consignment, loaded onto 23 trucks consisted of Afghan carpets, dry fruits, cotton, talc, stones and other items weighing 570 tonnes, Indian channel WION (World Is One) reports. It will be later shipped to India from the Chabahar Port that is situated in south-eastern Iranian Province of Sistan and Baluchistan.
The cargo set off for Iran on Monday morning when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, accompanied by Iranian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Mohammad Reza Bahrami, and Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar, officially opened the road and sea transit corridor from Afghanistan to India via Iran’s Chabahar Port.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, flanked by Iranian and Indian envoys, cuts off ribbon to see off first Afghan cargo consignment destined for India. (Photo: Office of Afghan President Arg presidential palace)
On Monday, Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami inaugurated the use of 13 port service installations such as gantry cranes and ship loaders and unloaders at the port.
India has invested 85m dollars to develop Chabahar’s first phase, that is, Shahid Beheshti port that can receive huge oceanic vessels with more than 50,000 tons.
The port, whose operations are being carried out by an Indian company, has now the capacity to unload 8.5 million tons.
The Chabahar project is a major connectivity program which will help India connect not only with landlocked Afghanistan but also Central Asia. The project is also part of the International North-South Corridor that will connect Mumbai to Moscow via Iran and Azerbaijan.
India has already established shipping links with the port with Indian ships going there every 2 weeks from 3 Indian ports Mumbai, Kandla and Mundra. Commercial operations at the port began on 30th December 2018 with India formally taking over operations of a part of the Shahid Beheshti Port on 24th December 2018.
In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement on the establishment of a Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as the regional hub for sea transportation.