Iran, India determined to promote transit through Chabahar Port
India's Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, at the head of a high-ranking delegation, met with Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Rostam Ghasemi, the managing director of Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) of Iran, Ali Akbar Safaei, and other officials at Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
According to MRUD News, the Indian delegation arrived in the southeastern port city of Chabahar on Saturday (August 20th) in order to visit port terminals, equipment, facilities, and its development plans.
The visit had been arranged on the decree of Indian Prime Minister, Narendera Modi, to strengthen bilateral ties in transit and trade, Sonowal said.
The two sides highlighted the unique importance of Chabahar Port in the region as, particularly for India, it safely facilitates freight transit from India to Russia and CIS countries for being enormously economical in terms of time and costs for transit.
In this meeting, the Iranian Minister proposed for concluding the initial agreement between Iran and India into a long-term one in order to accelerate cooperation between the two countries in Chabahar Port.
Iran expects to have a part of the large volume of trades between India and Russia to increase traffic in Chabahar while India attempts to establish closer ties and foster regional participation through this port.
India has sought to promote the position of Chabahar Port for higher connectivity, particularly among the CIS countries as Mumbai hosted the Chabahar Day conference in July 31 to highlight Chabahar link to International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), said Dhamendar Gaddam, India's ambassador to Tehran.
The two sides also signed an MoU regarding the mutual recognition of the seafarers' certificates of competency in unlimited service area between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran as per the Seafarers' Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.
The Indian delegation is accompanied by Sunil Mukundan, the Managing Director of India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL), Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Deputy Chairman in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and other Indian experts and officials.
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