Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurates Chabahar port

Wiki : Chabahar Port

Chabahar Port (Persian: بندر چابهار‎) is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Irans only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which have five berths.

India-Iran-Afghanistan MoU and plans have committed at least $21bn to Chabahar-Hajigak corridor, including $85m for Chabahar port development by India,$150m line of credit by India to Iran, $8bn India-Iran MoU for Indian industrial investment in Chabahar Special Economic Zone, $11-billion Hajigak iron and steel mining project awarded to seven Indian companies in central Afghanistan, and Indias $2bn commitment to Afghanistan for developing supporting infrastructure including the Chabahar-Hajigaj railway, with potential for several times more trade via connectivity to 7,200-km-long multi-mode North–South Transport Corridor(INSTC) connecting to Europe and Turkey, R297 Amur highway and Trans-Siberian Highway across Russia, and planned Herat to Mazar-i-Sharif railway providing access to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.Chabahar Port also provides direct access to Indias Farkhor Air Base in Tajikistan.

Development of the port was first proposed in 1973 by the last Shah of Iran, though development was delayed by the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The first phase of the port was opened in 1983 during the Iran–Iraq War as Iran began shifting seaborne trade east towards the Pakistani border in order to decrease dependency on ports in the Persian Gulf which were vulnerable to attack by the Iraqi Air Force.

India and Iran first agreed to plans to further develop Shahid Beheshti port in 2003, but did not do so on account of sanctions against Iran. As of 2016, the port has ten berths. In May 2016, India and Iran signed a bilateral agreement in which India would refurbish one of the berths at Shahid Beheshti port, and reconstruct a 600 meter long container handling facility at the port. The port is intended to provide an alternative for trade between India and Afghanistan. This port is 800 kilometers closer to Afghanistan than Pakistans Karachi port. The port handled 2.1 million tons of cargo in 2015, which is planned to be upgraded to handle 8.5 million tons by 2016, and to 86 million tons in the future.

In July 2016, India began shipping USD$150 million worth of rail tracks to Chabahar to develop the port container tracks and build USD$1.6 billion Chabahar-Zahedan railway built by Indias Ircon International for which India pledged additional US$400 million and Iran allocated US$125 million in December 2016, thus taking the total allocation to US$575 million (out of US$1.6 billion needed for the rail route) till the end of 2016. In October 2017, Indias first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan was sent through the Chabahar Port.

With Chabahar Port NSTC Route become alot more possible and eazier.



May both our great nations continue to support each other as always
From India with Love :)