Tehran, January 15, 2024 (MRUD NEWS)—Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mehrdad Bazrpash, met with India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, today in Tehran during his two-day trip to Iran in order to finalize agreement for development of Chabahar Port.
The two sides conferred on previous actions for equipping Chabahar Port and also a final agreement in this regard.
In the meeting, Bazrpash proposed the formation of a joint transport commission for development of bilateral cooperation and activation of transit capacities along the INSTC.
Also, Jaishankar expressed India's readiness for new investments in Iran and invited Iran's minister of Roads and Urban Development for a visit to India.
One of the development plans of Iran's Government in the Chabahar Port is the second phase of Shahid Beheshti Port development and provision of strategic equipment for increasing the loading/unloading capacities.
Concurrently, Iran is advancing five large investment projects by the private sector amounting to 40,000 billion IR which was initiated during the visit of Bazrpash to the Sistan and Baluchestan Province and Chabahar Port on December 26, 2023.
Currently, the construction of infrastructure of the first phase of Shahid Beheshti Port is finished and the port equipment is under completion.
The Chabahar Port as an ocean Port located in the southeastern Province of Sistan and Baluchestan Province is considered a crucial gateway for India to gain access to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and finally Russia bypassing Pakistan.
There are two important transport protocols between Iran and India with regards to the Chabahar Port. One is the joint cooperation on the development of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar signed in 2015. This is meant to realize the vision of Chabahar Port as a major regional and international hub for freight transit. Additionally, is the trilateral transit agreement for international transit and transport through the Chabahar Port signed by Iran, India, and Afghanistan in 2016.
In August 2022, following India's Prime Minister's decree, to strengthen bilateral ties in transit and trade, Iran and India's transport Ministers visited in Tehran to expand the role of Chabahar Port in regional transit and trade. Then the two sides decided to conclude the initial agreement of Iran and India for Chabahar into a long-term agreement for accelerating cooperation in Chabahar Port.