India holds trilateral discussions to bolster Chabahar Agreement

The Dollar Business Bureau

In a bid to take forward the Chabahar Agreement on the establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor, a trilateral meeting was held in the national capital between Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, India; Dr. Mohammadullah Batash, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Afghanistan; and Dr. Abbas Ahmed Akhoundi, Minister of Road and Urban Development, Iran.

The Chabahar Agreement was signed by the three ministers on 23rd May, 2016 in Tehran in the presence of the Prime Minister of India and Presidents of Iran and Afghanistan respectively.

According to an official release, the meeting reiterated the importance of Chabahar as a hub for regional connectivity and the commitment of the involved countries to work towards achieving this objective.

The discussion also witnessed a decision for organising a connectivity event involving all the stakeholders at Chabahar within two months in order to reflect the new opportunities that the Chabahar Port would offer.

During the meeting, the ministers also shed light on the early implementation of the agreement by taking proper steps to compliment the same. It was decided to evolve protocols related to transport and transit, ports, customs procedures and consular affairs.

The release also talked about convening an expert level meeting of senior officials of the three countries within one month in Chabahar.

It was highlighted that development of ports, road and rail connectivity will pave way for new opportunities leading to prosperity in all the three countries.

The ministers from of Iran and Afghanistan are visiting India at the invitation of Nitin Gadkari.