New Delhi, Iran review Chabahar port progress

Bagheri Kani is Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had tweeted on Monday that he is engaged in “substantiated and dynamic talks for the removal of sanctions with seriousness”.

Updated on: Jul 6, 2022, 02:49:02 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

India and Iran on Tuesday discussed progress in the development of Chabahar port, even as foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra emphasised New Delhi’s commitment to strengthen cooperation with Tehran to address shared challenges.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra spoke on phone with Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy minister for political affairs in Iran’s foreign ministry, and discussed various elements of bilateral relations, including progress on Chabahar port. (ANI)

Kwatra spoke on phone with Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy minister for political affairs in Iran’s foreign ministry, and discussed various elements of bilateral relations, including progress on Chabahar port, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

He “underscored India’s commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Iran in addressing shared opportunities and challenges”. The two sides also discussed international and regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.

Also read: Strong earthquake kills 5 in southern Iran

Bagheri Kani is Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had tweeted on Monday that he is engaged in “substantiated and dynamic talks for the removal of sanctions with seriousness”.

The phone conversation was a follow-up to Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to New Delhi last month, when he and external affairs minister S Jaishankar discussed ways to enhance cooperation in connectivity, trade and counterterrorism. This was Amir-Abdollahian’s first trip to India since he became foreign minister last year.

The engagements have been held against the backdrop of calls for easing of US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela following global shortage of crude oil supplies because of the war in Ukraine. Jaishankar, too, raised the issue at the annual Bratislava Forum in Slovakia last month, and questioned why Western powers were not allowing Iranian and Venezuelan oil to return to the global markets to address the shortage.

Also read: UN nuclear watchdog: Iran removing 27 surveillance cameras

Despite a waiver from the US sanctions for Chabahar port, the development of the strategic facility has been slow as manufacturers in the West have been reluctant to supply heavy equipment needed to bolster the capabilities of the port on the Gulf of Oman. India sees the port as a strategic transit hub for the region, especially the landlocked central Asian states.

India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement in May 2016 to establish the International Transport and Transit Corridor (Chabahar Agreement). India has committed a total grant assistance of $85 million and a credit facility of $150 million for developing the Shahid Beheshti terminal at the port.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More