Chabahar port phase one becomes operational on Sunday

New Delhi, Dec 2: The first phase of Chabahar port will become operational on Sunday following the completion of work by Iran even as a third ship carrying 15,000 tonnes of wheat from India to Afghanistan docks ahead of its inauguration.

Lying on the coast of the Gulf of Oman in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province, the port has two significant docks--Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantari--which are generally referred to as Shahid Beheshti Port and Shahid Kalantari Port.
Iran has invested about $1 billion on developing the first phase of the port. With its launch, 100,000-tonne ships will be able to call at the port, says Behrouz Aqaee, director general of Ports and Maritime Organization in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
The Iranian government has planed inauguration of the port with a ceremony to be attended by President Hassan Rouhani and top officials from 27 countries.
The development has immense significance, as it paves the way for India to carry forward the next phase of construction and development of two berths for its use, particularly for trade to Afghanistan. The government has committed $500 million to the port project and will develop a free trade area around the port, and finally will complete the loop with a $1.6 billion railway line to Zahedan.
India has completed the Zaranj-Delaram highway in Afghanistan, which would facilitate the trade to Kabul, and eventually to Central Asia.
Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is likely to be present at the inauguration, has said the first part of India’s construction would be over in 2018. The Indian government has set up a special purpose vehicle for the project. In addition, India has teamed up with Japan to develop the port as well as a special economic zone near the port. 
It has taken almost two decades to develop the port, to a large extent due to US and UN sanctions against Iran. But India has been very clear that its relations with Iran should be independent of its relations with other countries. India has not allowed the US to become a barrier to the development of its relations with Iran even prior to the going into effect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed between Iran and P5+1 in January 2016.
That is because India for centuries had very strong links with Iran and the Central Asian countries. Through this region, it also had trade relations all the way to Eastern Europe. However, due to the strained relations with Pakistan, the land-based connections have been severed and the two countries have become dependent on sea for the continuation and strengthening of their trade and political relations.
India is trying to enhance its economic ties with Iran.The port is expected to act as a gateway for the Indian exports and imports to and from Iran, the Central Asian countries and Eastern Europe.
Prime minister Narendra Modi has said the launch of the trade route "marks a new chapter in regional cooperation and connectivity." In June this year, India ratified the TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) Convention which will enable India to move cargo along the international North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which also traverses through Iran.
India plans to send seven shipments of wheat to Afghanistan via Chabahar until the end of January. It shipped 1.1 million tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan from Kandla port on October 29. "I believe that this is the starting point of our journey to realise the full spectrum of connectivity -- from culture to commerce, from traditions to technology, from investments to IT, from services to strategy and from people to politics," External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had the said in a statement. 
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said the development of Chabahar could help Afghanistan’s formal economy grow as it would "reduce the role of the informal economy ruled by drugs and criminal gangs." UNI