Chabahar pact, India's access to Central Asia

The Dollar Business Bureau

Chabahar port agreement with Iran will help Indian companies boost their Central Asian engagement and significantly reduce the transportation costs, said Industry Chamber FICCI on Tuesday.

The industry body said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to Tehran had infused vigour in the development of infrastructure, connectivity and energy security goals for India. The bilateral agreement signed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasises the strategic opportunities the region provides to India. 

India and Iran had signed an agreement for the development of Chabahar port during Modi’s visit to the Persian Gulf nation. India will invest $500 million for the development of the port.

The commercial contract signed for Phase 1 development of Chabahar port will pave the way to the land-locked country and would cut down the transportation costs and travelling time by one-third.

Chabahar port is located in the Sistan-Balochistan Province on Iran’s southern coast which lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessible from the western coast of India, by circumventing Pakistan. Developing the port will help Indian companies boost their trade ties with Iran, gain access to Afghanistan and Central Asia and in the long run also serve as the origin point for the proposed pipeline between Iran, Oman and India. 

The 12 Memorandum of Understandings (MoU’s) signed between the countries  on science and technology, culture, exchange of information & knowledge and many another aspects of economic engagements are a significant development to continue building the partnership.