Iran to promote Chabahar port
With US sanctions threatening Iran’s main port of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian government is planning to promote Chabahar port which is being developed by India in a major conference on February 26, highlighting the potential of the Indian Ocean port beyond India-afghan trade alone.
India is sending an official delegation to the event led by the Shipping Ministry, where about 200 guests from 35 countries were invited, officials said.
The event will also bring into focus a tightrope India must walk, with the US tensions with Iran on one side, in order to achieve the aims of trade with Afghanistan.
“The government of Iran wants to build Chabahar as the focal point with the entire coastline of 1,000 kilometers to be developed for oil refineries, petrochemical and steel factories, and other projects,” Iran’s newly appointed Ambassador to India Ali Chegini told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.
“We want to promote Chabahar as a hub where big ships can enter, offload to smaller ships that can go easily to other ports as well.”
The potential for inland trade, according to Chegini, goes well beyond the present plan of trade from India-afghanistan via Chabahar, as he revealed the government’s plans to connect ‘via Turkmenistan to Central Asia, via Turkey to Europe, and via Iraq to Syria and the Mediterranean’ countries.
“Once the railroad from Chabahar connects to Zahedan, many more opportunities will open up,” he said.
India has committed to building the 500-kilometer $1.6 billion railway from Chabahar to Zahedan, which are both in the Sistan-baluchestan Province, and an MOU worth $2 billion was signed by the Railway Ministry last February during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to India.
In addition, Iran is planning a second airport near Chabahar and the development of a free trade zone, while energy infrastructure of a gas pipeline has been already built up to 200km of Chabahar.
Asked about the impact of sanctions, reimposed in November 2018, Chegini pointed out that the advantage of Chabahar was that it had received a waiver from the US.
“Firstly, there is a US waiver for Chabahar, and it is not time-bound. In any case, we don’t care about sanctions from third parties. This is our country and our business, and we continue to do our best to develop it,” Chegini said.
“That is why Chabahar won’t be affected by these sanctions. There is now a real interest from Central Asia, countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are all contacting us despite all the restrictions, and India is continuing to develop [Chabahar port],” he added.
MEA officials dealing with the Chabahar project are advising some caution in the plans, given that the US waiver for Chabahar was given by the Trump administration to facilitate trade to Afghanistan.
“This exception relates to reconstruction assistance and economic development for Afghanistan. These activities are vital for the ongoing support of Afghanistan’s growth and humanitarian relief,” the State Department spokesman had said, announcing the waiver on November 7 last year.
As a result, India is hoping that the February 26 event does not turn into a confrontation between the US and Iran, said a senior official of the MEA.
“We want all countries, including the US to understand the value of the Chabahar facility not just for trade with Afghanistan, but for soft aid and humanitarian relief for Iranians,” the official said.
Trilateral cooperation
India, Iran and Afghanistan have also stepped up work on trilateral cooperation to facilitate trade through Chabahar, after India sent a trial shipment of 100mt of wheat to Kabul via the port last year.
Since the port was officially opened on December 3, more than 135 containers have been processed at the Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantri terminals, MEA officials said.
Officials from India, Iran and Afghanistan also opened the office of the India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), and India has subsequently taken over the logistics and cargo handling services of the port.
Iranian bank Pasargard is expected to begin operations at a branch in Mumbai to handle transactions along with the UCO bank branch in Tehran, while the Afghan Ghazanfar Bank is in the final phase of clearances to set up a branch in Chabahar, said officials.