India to accede to Ashgabat Agreement on transit corridor

The union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for India to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The Ashgabat Agreement has Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as its founding members. Kazakhstan also joined this arrangement later.

"Accession to the agreement would enable India to utilise this existing transport and transit corridor to facilitate trade and commercial interaction with the Eurasian region," an official statement said after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Further, this would synchronise with our efforts to implement the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) for enhanced connectivity," it stated.

It also said that India's intention to accede to the Ashgabat Agreement would now be conveyed to Turkmenistan, the depository stated.

"India would become party to the agreement upon consent of the founding members," the statement said.

--Indo-Asian News service

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