Official underlines importance of Chabahar port for India

A senior Indian official underlined the importance of the Southern Iranian port of Chabahar for the transit of Indian goods to other countries. "Chabahar is a very important port for investment and it also links India with its neighbors," Director General of the Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses Arvind Gupta said. He pointed to his visit to Chabahar port city, and said, "I had a visit to Chabahar to grow more familiar with investment in the port because of Chabahar's importance." India is serious about a trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan. In December 2013, Tehran, Kabul and New Delhi prepared the draft of a trilateral agreement on the transit of goods from Chabahar. "A draft has recently been prepared and it is being studied right now by the three parties and we expect this will soon be finalized and then a date for signing this trilateral agreement in one of the three countries will be set," Afghan Ambassador to Tehran Shaida M Abdali announced at the time. Earlier in 2013, former Afghanistan's Ambassador to Tehran Nasir Ahmad Nour said that Kabul is ready to invest in Iran’s Southern port city of Chabahar. Describing Iran-Afghanistan trade transactions as growing, Ahmad Nour said Kabul is interested in making investments in Chabahar Free Trade Zone. Also earlier this year, Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industry Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady noted that Kabul cannot make complete use of Pakistani ports despite trade agreements signed between the two countries. The North-South Transport Corridor is the ship, rail, and road route for moving cargo from South Asia to Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia. Iran is located in the international corridor with the Iranian part of the corridor starting in Chabahar in the South and stretching up to the city of Mashhad. Iran's Chabahar port, which is located 72 kilometers West of Pakistan's Gwadar port, holds immense strategic and economic significance for India. Chabahar and Gwadar ports are located in a common coast and they are 70 kilometers away from one another. The transit agreement involves India, Iran and Afghanistan. India had held discussions with Iran on the Chabahar port during Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Tehran in May 2013.