“The bilateral agreement to develop the Chabahar port and related infrastructure, and availability of about $500 million from India for this goal, is an important milestone”, said Modi.
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The deal and plans were announced Monday during a visit by an Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first such trip in more than a decade.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also flew in to Tehran on Monday for the signing of a tripartite agreement between Iran, India and his country to turn Chabahar into a transit hub, bypassing Pakistan.
Meanwhile, India’s Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has been quoted as saying that the agreements that the two countries have signed envisage investments of billions of dollars by New Delhi in setting up industries – ranging from aluminum smelter to urea plants – in Iran’s Chabahar free trade zone. Ltd. and Arya Bandar of Iran envisages development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and five berths with cargo handling (multipurpose and general) capacities.
India and Iran play major roles in the region’s security, stability and development, he added.
Rouhani said that banking relations between the two countries will be expanded.
“Undoubtedly, this deal will lead to economic progress and growth of the region”, Modi said. Road and rail links are to be built so that landlocked Afghanistan can get access to the Iranian port as an alternate to the Pakistani port of Karachi.
An MoU between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Islamic Culure and Relations Organisation (ICRO) of Iran provides for institutional mechanisms for cooperation between ICCR and ICRO and lays down the modalities for cooperation. He said the port can serve as a point of connectivity to different countries.
The Indian prime minister arrived in Tehran on Sunday for an official visit. But unlike in 2009, India didn’t bow to U.S. pressure and continued to buy oil from Iran.
“Today we are witnessing creation of history for the entire region”.
A bilateral contract on the Chabahar port between India Ports Global Pvt.
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“The distance between Kandla and the Chabahar port is less than the distance between New Delhi and Mumbai, and so what this agreement does is to enable us quick movement of goods first to Iran and then onwards to Afghanistan and Russian Federation through a new rail and road link”, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
