Chabahar, India's gateway to Central Asia

Chabahar Port's link in Iran with the International North-South Transport Corridor will enhance connectivity with Central Asian countries, drive investment and deepen cultural and political ties, according to Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Chabahar Port links the rich Central Asian region with the South Asian markets. It has emerged as significant for trade, economic collaborations and connecting people between the two geographies.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is India's vision and initiative to reduce the time taken for EXIM shipments to reach Russia and Europe, and enter the Central Asian markets. The Chabahar port, which has been developed through Indian assistance, is the commercial transit centre for the region, especially Central Asia. India is participating in the development of the first phase of the Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar Port in cooperation with the Iranian government. The bilateral contract between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of India was signed on 23rd May 2016 with a total value of USD 85 million ‎for Equipping, Mechanizing and starting Operations at Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar development Phase- I. To achieve this ambitious aim, an SPV namely India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) Mumbai was incorporated under the ambit of the Ministry of Ports, ‎Shipping and Waterways.

"This link will not only offer more connectivity but will also drive investment, further supporting our culture and political ties," Union Shipping Minister Sarbanand Sonowal said on the Chabahar link to INSTC for connecting Central Asian markets that, "Our vision is to make Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar a transit hub and linking it to INSTC to reach out to Central Asian Countries,'' he said.

Owing to the potential of the Central Asian market, the India-led connectivity initiatives help provide secure and commercially-viable access to the Indian Ocean region for Central Asian countries. The port is a strategically located facility which can connect Central Asia and also South Asia, and it is going to be one of the most important locations for global trade and maritime trade. The port will improve the logistics network of the region and promote joint initiative to create a regional transnational transport corridor which will boost not only India's trade but global trade. "Through our cooperation, our combined efforts, we have successfully developed a point of connectivity enhancing trade and commerce among India and central Asian countries. "India is working towards developing an alternative vista with the Central Asian region in order to unlock the huge trade potential that belies this strong relationship India enjoys with the Central Asian countries. The idea of INSTC via the vibrant Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar is an idea to connect the two markets, using a multi-modal logistic corridor," Sonowal said. The meeting will provide us a platform on how to put the Chabahar Port in the International North-South Transport Corridor, the minister stated.

India is looking forward to businesses and logistics companies utilising the incentives of the Shahid Beheshti Port and Chabahar Free Trade Zone. The Chabahar Free Trade Zone is an opportunity for the logistics companies to reap allowing the trade to bloom. Once India starts exploring this route for trade, it will be able to rationalise its logistical cost, in terms of money and time, helping build an economical, faster and shorter route between the two regions. India wants all the representatives and stakeholders to come forward with suggestions to reduce the transportation time and cost further to make a cheaper, shorter, faster and more reliable route from India to Iran and Central Asia, the minister added. The event was also attended by Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shripad Yesso Naik as well as ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan as well as Consul General of Iran and Afghanistan. Beside, Deputy head of Iran's Port and Maritime Organisation Jalil Eslami, Advisor to the minister and head of the centre for international affairs of Iran's ministry of Road and Urban Development, Masoud Ostad Hossein, Chairman of Indian Ports Association, Rajeev Jalota and India Ports Global Ltd MD, Sunil Mukundan were also present at the event.

The corridor is very important for regional trade promotion, and especially after the new crisis in the world where the transit of goods is one of the main objectives of all countries, including Iran, India and Central Asian countries. The Chabahar Port is the gateway to Central Asia, Europe (and) Russia so this would be, in fact, a very unique combination of the transport of the rail, road and sea for transit of the commodity from Central Asia and Russia to India and vice versa.