BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 1
Trend:
Chabahar port paves the way for developing India and Iran trade, economic and political relations, Director-General of the Middle East at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.
“75,000 tons of Indian donated wheat to Afghanistan in the last few years have been crossed over Iran`s Chabahar port,” Director-General of the Middle East at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Jitender Pal Singh said, Trend reports citing IRNA.
“Effective measures have been taken to upgrade the port,” he said, adding that in addition to India, many countries are interested in investing in Chabahar, he pointed out.
The Indian official went on to say that India sought to receive US sanction exemptions for Chabahar Port in order to have a greater presence in this area. Singh referred to the import of two cranes for the port of Chabahar to solve some of the problems of unloading and loading.
According to IRNA, India on Sunday handed over two cranes to be used for handling cargo at the strategic Shahid Beheshti port at Chabahar in Iran that New Delhi is developing as a counter to the China-built Gwadar port in Pakistan.
The handover of the cranes took place during a visit to Iran by a senior Indian foreign ministry official J.P. Singh who is in charge of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk in New Delhi.
India handed over two cranes to be used for handling cargo at the strategic Shahid Beheshti port at Chabahar in Iran that New Delhi is developing as a counter to the China-built Gwadar port in Pakistan.
The handover of the cranes took place during a visit to Iran by a senior Indian foreign ministry official J.P. Singh who is in charge of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk in New Delhi.
Then US President Donald Trump walked out of the pact in 2018 and imposed stringent sanctions on Tehran mainly crippling its oil industry. While the port at Chabahar was exempt from sanctions – as it was seen as crucial for the economic uplift of Afghanistan – the Indian industry was seen as hesitant to engage Tehran given Trump’s strong views against the Shia majority country.
Located in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province on Iran’s south-eastern coast, Chabahar port gives India a sea and land access route into landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia through Iran. The project is considered strategic given that it rivals Pakistan’s Gwadar port that is a key part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, one of the strands of China’s ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative.