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Chabahar Project
Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed India signing a contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar as an important milestone and said New Delhi will work to provide connectivity to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia region to promote trade and commerce. In an interview to PTI, he said India will work to promote regional connectivity, trade and commerce through not just the Chabahar port but also through the International North South Transport Corridor as also the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Since coming to power in 2014, Modi said, his government gave precedence to Chabahar Port. "In 2016, during my visit to Iran, the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan was signed, in order to provide the much-needed connectivity to Afghanistan." An Indian company took over the port operations a few years ago, and since then it is being used by India to provide "humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan including wheat, pulses, pesticides, medical .
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Chabahar port would benefit the entire region and a narrow view should not be taken of it, after the US warned that any country having business dealings with Iran runs the "potential risk of sanctions". Speaking at a programme in Kolkata on Tuesday night, he said that in the past, even the US has been appreciative of the fact that the Chabahar port has a larger relevance. India on Monday signed a 10-year contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar that will help New Delhi expand trade with Central Asia. "We had a long association with the Chabahar port but we could never sign a long-term agreement. The reason was there were various problems... Finally, we were able to sort this out and we were able to get the long-term agreement done. A long-term agreement is necessary because without it we cannot improve the port operations. And, the port operations, we believe, will benefit the entire region," Jaishankar said. "I did
Trade activities between Pakistan and Iran remained uninterrupted at all the border points in the restive Balochistan province despite tensions between them following their tit-for-tat military strikes in each other's territory, Pakistani officials have said. On Friday, more than 100 trucks carrying vegetables and other goods crossed from the Taftan border into Iran, Makran Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Umrani said. Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" against what it called "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province that killed 9 people on Thursday. The attack was seen as retaliation to Iranian missile and drone attacks on Tuesday, which targeted two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province. Umrani said the positive thing was that governments on both sides now making efforts to move on with trade activities at the border crossing points of Taftan, Gwadar, Kech, Panjgur and Washuk in Balochistan. Trade h
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian here and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project. Jaishankar, who is in the Iranian capital as part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides, also called on Iranian President Dr Ebrahim Raisi and conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Held wide ranging discussions today in Tehran with Iranian FM @Amirabdolahian. Our bilateral discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with Chabahar port and the INSTC connectivity project," Jaishankar said in a post on X. He also spoke about threats to maritime shipping in the region and stressed that it's important that this issue be "speedily addressed", in an apparent reference to targeting of merchant vessels in the Red Sea by Iranian-backe