India has signed a historical agreement with Iran for the development of Chabahar port which will give India sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan. The strategically important port is located in Sistan-Balochistan Province on Iran’s southeastern coast. With this agreement India can reach Afghanistan via sea-land access route and also completely bypassing Pakistan.
The pact was signed after extensive talks between visiting Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari with the Iran’s Minister for Transport and Urban Development Dr Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi in Tehran. The port will be used to ship crude oil and urea, saving India transportation costs.
The United States has been asking India and other countries not to “rush” into doing business with Iran as Washington was yet to work out a deal with Tehran on the latter’s contentious nuclear programme.
From Chahbahar port it is possible to access Afghanistan’s Garland Highway by using the existing Iranian road network, a link up to Zaranj in Afghanistan and then using the Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India in 2009. This would establish road access to four of the major cities of Afghanistan — Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.
The port would cut transport costs and freight time for India to Central Asia and the Gulf by about a third. In 2003, the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee had signed an agreement with Iran for the Chabahar Port, but it could not be materialised.
Tidbits
- Iran means Land of the Aryans.
- It is the second-largest nation in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world.
- Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran.
- Iran’s Currency is Rial.
- Ali Hosseini Khamenei is the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
GK Questions
- The game Polo was originated in which country? Iran (Modern Polo – Manipur).
- What are the major mountain ranges of Iran? Elburz and Zagros.
