India commits to Chabahar development

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has met his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and signed an agreement to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar.

India will commit US$500m to developing the port, which is in the east of Iran and will facilitate Indian trade with Iran and Afghanistan. Of this money, US$85m will be spent in developing two container berths with a length of 640m and three multi-cargo berths.

At present, Indian trade with Central Asia must either pass through the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which is further away than Chabahar from India, or negotiate Pakistan’s ports, which have been accused of deliberately slowing down Indian cargo due to the two countries’ frosty relations.