India, Iran and Afghanistan held first trilateral on Chabahar Port in Tehran
On October 23, 2018 the first trilateral meeting between India, Afghanistan and Iran of the Coordination Council of the Chabahar Agreement took place in Tehran. Chabahar Port is under threats of US sanctions on Iran that are going to be implemented from November 4, 2018.
The Indian delegation was led by Mr T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations). The Afghan and Iran delegations were led by respective Deputy Ministers of Transport.
Chabahar Port is important for better connectivity and economic development of Afghanistan and the region and important for India to assist Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism in case Pakistan denies India to use the land route that connects with Afghanistan.
The Ministry of External Affairs statement said, “Detailed discussions were held between the three sides on full operationalization of the trilateral Agreement for international transit and transport through Chabahar Port.”.
It said, “All sides shared the view that full operationalization of trilateral Chabahar initiative will promote connectivity and economic development of Afghanistan and the region”.
During the first meeting of the Trilateral Coordination (Chabahar Agreement), The managing director of the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran announced the start of Indian operations in Chabahar port within the next two weeks.https://t.co/p6DpCLshvb pic.twitter.com/x3gvJJrcso
— Iran Embassy, India (@embassy_iran) October 24, 2018
India, Iran and Afghanistan agreed to constitute a follow-up committee and to hold the next trilateral meeting in the beginning of 2019 in India.
The statement said, “It was decided to constitute a Follow-up committee that would hold its first meeting within two months in Chabahar Port, Iran. It would, inter alia, discuss and aim to finalise protocol to harmonize transit, roads, customs, consular matters that was shared by the Indian side at the meeting for making the route attractive, decrease logistic costs and pave the way for smooth implementation of the Trilateral Chabahar Agreement”.
India is developing Chabahar Port in Iran to make better connectivity and to increase trade with central Asian region. US has threatened to sanction all infrastructure projects including ports in Iran, after President trump pulled out of Iran Nuclear deal.
