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“We need to distance ourselves from the sanctions imposed on Iran. We should bypass those sanctions and we are committed to invest in Chabahar Port,” Indian Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna told politicians and business delegates from dozens of countries that participated in a big ceremony to celebrate the Chabahar Day.
Iran has organized the event in a bid to showcase the port’s capabilities and woo foreign investors given that the US President Donald Trump’s Administration refused to sanction the port, the first phase of which is being developed by India under a 10-year lease.
“Under a trilateral agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and India, New Delhi is committed to equip and develop the Chabahar Port,” he added.
The Indian firm India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) took over the operations at the Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar late last December.
Krishna, who was leading a large business delegation from India to the event, also called on Central Asian and the Caucasus states to invest in the Iranian port that is located in the south-eastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province on the Sea of Oman, the gateway to the Indian Ocean. New Delhi eyes to expand its export markets to Central Asia.
He stressed that rail connection between Iran and Afghanistan should be fast-tracked as the Afghan nations is the “main beneficiary” of Chabahar Port. The Indian shipping ministry secretary highlighted that railways that connect Chabahar to Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, will ease and facilitate trade between regional countries and Central Asia nations.
The Chabahar Day was celebrated as Afghanistan’s first export cargo arrived at the port on Monday night to be later shipped to the western Indian port of Mumbai.
The Indian official stressed the first Indian export to Afghanistan via the multi-modal transit corridor will also pass through the Chabahar Port.
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