India, Iran and Uzbekistan hold meet on joint use of Chabahar Port

In a significant move, India, Iran and Uzbekistan on Tuesday held talks on joint use of the Chabahar Port while underlining its important role in enhancing regional connectivity.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the participants discussed further development of transportation corridor around the port.

It was the second such virtual meeting among the three countries on further development of the strategically important Iranian port.

"The participants underlined the important role played by Chabahar Port during humanitarian crises as well as in enhancing regional connectivity," the MEA said.

"They also took note of the increase in transit traffic between Central Asia and South Asia through the Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port and discussed further development of transportation corridor," it said in a statement.

Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the port is being developed by India and Iran to boost trade ties.

"Upon the invitation of the Iranian side, Indian side agreed to send a high level delegation to Chabahar next year. It was decided to hold the third session of the trilateral working group meeting in India at a mutually convenient date," the MEA said.

It said the Indian side made a presentation on the operations of the Chabahar Port and informed that the Indian company, India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), took over the operations of the port in December 2018.

"Since then, it has handled 160 vessels, 14,420 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and 3.2 million tons of bulk and general cargo," the MEA said.

"The Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port has handled shipments and trans-shipments from various countries including Russia, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Ukraine, Oman, Romania, Bangladesh, Australia, Kuwait, Uzbekistan and UAE," it said.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Sanjeev Ranjan, secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways; Ali Akbar Safaei, secretary, deputy minister and managing director of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation; and Abdossamad Mumenof, secretary of Uzbekistan's ministry of transportation.