1 India Watch
Chabahar, a gate for India to Afghanistan and Central Asia
...other countries can join the deal in future
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Monday signed an accord under which India will make an investment of $500 million to develop two terminals and cargo berths at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman, which is expected to become a regional trading hub. The development of this port will also open a transit route and give major cities of landlocked Afghanistan access to the Iranian port and Indian goods. In the words of President Rouhani, the agreement would turn the Port of Chabahar into a “connection point of various countries including India, Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucuses, and East of Europe.” Rouhani said the agreement was a message to other countries in the region that the “path to progress in the region is with cooperation and using regional opportunities.” President Rouhani added that the door is open for other countries to sign on to the trilateral agreement in the future.
Source of the map: India Today
In addition to giving landlocked Afghanistan an access to India via sea, and also reducing India’s transportation costs by about 50 percent1, developing the port would also decrease the transportation costs of Iranian exports to Central Asia.
1 according to PM Modi
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Iran News Brief
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EEccoonnoommiicc aanndd EEnneerrggyy ddeevveellooppmmeennttss Issue 53/2016 │ Tuesday May 24th
2 Supreme Leader
says Iran is serious in developing relations with India
What are the core objectives of the visit of Indian PM?
Key points of agreement on developing Chabahar Port:
After the signing ceremony, President Rouhani told reporters that this is an
“important and historical” day for relations among the three countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in Persian on Monday that he had
“constructive” and “fruitful” negotiations with Iranian leaders that will open new chapter in bilateral strategic partnership. He termed the agreement on the establishment of the trilateral transport as a “corridor of peace and prosperity” that would “spur unhindered flow of commerce throughout the region.” He said
“Economic fruits of Chabahar Agreement will expand trade, attract investment, build infrastructure, develop industry, and create jobs.”
The visiting Indian Prime Minister met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday afternoon. The Iranian leader said “The Islamic Republic is serious in developing relations with India, as one of the emerging economies and also is quite serious in implementing mutual agreements.” The Supreme Leader noted the Indian “good” economic future, along with Iran’s abundant oil and gas reserves, and said “in addition to oil and gas, Chabahar is one of the important connecting points between west and east and north and south that can lay a ground for deep, long-term and fruitful cooperation.” In the meeting he has had with leaders of Asian countries in the wake of the implementation of the nuclear deal, Iran’s leader has made no secret of the Islamic Republic’s inclination towards making strategic relations with the East.
In an article published on Monday by the Iran newspaper on Monday, ICCIM2 Chairman Mohsen Jalalpour wrote that India looks at Iran as gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia and to this end, it has seriously counted on developing the Port of Chabahar to bypass Pakistan and reduce transportation costs by 30 percent. Jalalpour wrote that Iran can use this opportunity to transform Chabahar into a sea hub of the region. The ICCIM chairman cited energy as the second reason for the importance of the trip of Indian Prime Minister to Iran as with an annual economic growth rate of 7 percent, India’s need for energy resources grows fast and Iran is capable to meet this growing energy demand, especially with Indian investment in new Iranian oil and gas fields. Jalalpour also underlines that India will turn into the world’s third largest economy after 2030 and this requires Iran to take a strategic view towards this emerging economic power.
Vikas Swarup, the Indian spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs has tweeted an infographic highlighting the key points of the agreement signed on Monday between officials of the two countries on developing the port of Chabahar:
2 Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Mine
3 12 MOUS were
signed in front of Iran’s president and Indian PM
The daily Shargh wrote today that the two countries signed 12 MOUs and quoted President Rouhani as saying during a press conference on Monday that the two sides decided to promote their relations from merely mutual trade to comprehensive economic relations. Rouhani said the two sides have decided to develop relations in nanotechnology and IT, railways, oil and gas, educational and cultural spheres. The Persian-language Iran newspaper has listed the 12 agreements signed on Monday in front of President Rouhani and PM Modi:
1- MOU between Iranian and Indian ministries of foreign affairs on policy-making and thin tank collaboration
2- MOU between the Iranian MOFA international relations faculty and Indian Foreign Service Institute
3- MOU between Iranian and Indian ministry of Science and Research on scientific cooperation
4- MOU between National Library of Iran and National Archives of India 5- MOU on executive directions for cultural cooperation
6- MOU between Islamic Culture & Relations Organization of Iran and Indian Council for Cultural Relations
7- Contract for developing the Port of Chabahar between the Iranian Ports &
Marine Organization (PMO) and India Ports Global Private Limited
8- MOU between PMO of Iran and Indian EXIM Bank on credit line for developing Chabahar Port
9- Conformation statement between the Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs &
Finance and Indian EXIM Bank
4 ...an expert
warns: India never ignores long-term benefits of ties with US to short term interests of relations with Iran
10- MOU between Indian National Aluminum Company and IMIDRO (Iranian Mines
& Mineral Industries Development & Renovation Organization)
11- MOU between Iran Export Guarantee Fund and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India
12- MOU between the Construction & Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company of Iran (CDTIC) and an Indian state company.
Mohammad Mella-Zehi, the subcontinent affairs’ expert wrote today in the Economic daily Donyay-e Eghtesad that in emboldening economic and strategic relations with India, Tehran needs to keep in mind that New Delhi has strong strategic and technological ties with both Israel and the US and will never abandon the interests of its long-term relations with these two countries for short term expediencies of relations with Iran.
Before the oil embargoes, Iran was India’s second largest oil suppliers but after the oil embargoes, Iran ranked 8th in terms of supplying crude oil to this country.
However, a report published on May 2 by Reuters shows that Tehran’s export of crude oil to Indian refiners has increased substantially post sanctions so much so that India’s imports of oil from Iran rose 48.8 percent in April 2016 from a year ago.
The daily Donyay-e Eghtesad wrote that the country increased its import of Iran’s crude to 500,000 bpd in March, the highest in the past five years, compared to 150,000 bpd in 2013, when the nuclear deal wasn’t clinched yet.
