India, Iran need to work together to expedite Chabahar Port: Iranian Foreign Minister

India and Iran need to work together on the procurement of equipment for the construction of Chabahar Port as well as the rail network connecting the Iranian port city to Zahedan, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said here on Friday.

Responding to a question, Zarif said that the problem in the progress of the project is that India has found difficulty in procuring the necessary equipment for the port in spite of the US exemptions.

"The problem is that India has found difficulty in procuring the necessary equipment for Chabahar Port in spite of the US exemptions on the same. The other problem is connecting Chabahar to Afghanistan and to Central Asia through rail. We need to complete Chabahar-Zahedan rail (network)," said Zarif.

"We have all the infrastructure for that. We need rails. We are in negotiations with India for providing rails. We produce our own rails but not as fast as we need for all the rail projects that we have around the country. So there are the two areas where India and Iran need to work together," he added.

In 2018, Iran and India had signed an agreement worth USD 85 million to develop the Chabahar Port. Located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman, the port provides an alternative route for trade between India and Afghanistan.