Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

INDIA PROPOSES INCLUSION OF CHABAHAR PORT IN INT’L CORRIDOR

- Rezaul H Laskar letters@hindustant­imes.com

NEW DELHI: India on Thursday proposed the inclusion of Iran’s Chabahar port in the Internatio­nal North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200km multi-mode route spanning 13 countries, and also called for Uzbekistan and Afghanista­n to be made part of the corridor.

Chabahar port, where an Indian state-run firm operates a terminal, is a key part of India’s plans to enhance connectivi­ty to Afghanista­n and the Central Asian states. The port played an important role in shipping humanitari­an aid to Afghanista­n amid the Covid-19 pandemic and India recently supplied heavy cranes to boost its capabiliti­es.

Addressing the virtual “Chabahar Day” event organised on the margins of the Maritime India Summit 2021, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and minister of state for shipping Mansukh Mandaviya spoke about plans to include the Iranian port in INSTC.

Jaishankar welcomed the interest shown by Uzbekistan and Afghanista­n in joining the multilater­al corridor and said: “Establishi­ng an eastern corridor through Afghanista­n would maximise its potential.”

He added, “I am hopeful that during the INSTC coordinati­on council meeting, member states would agree to the expansion of the INSTC route to include the Chabahar port and also agree on expanding the membership of this project.”

Mandaviya proposed the meeting of the INSTC coordinati­on council meeting, which was to be held last year but was put off because of the pandemic, should be held virtually to take things forward. “Chabahar port is part of our shared commitment to the peace, stability and prosperity of the people of Afghanista­n,” Mandaviya said.

CHABAHAR PORT IS KEY IN INDIA’S PLANS TO BOOST CONNECTIVI­TY TO AFGHANISTA­N AND CENTRAL ASIAN STATES

 ?? PTI/TWITTER ?? Clockwise from left: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur in Shimla, receive their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
PTI/TWITTER Clockwise from left: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur in Shimla, receive their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
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