The Big Picture – PM Modi in Iran: Where are the ties heading?

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Introduction During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent two-day visit to Iran, India and Iran inked twelve agreements. The most important among them is the agreement to build the strategic Chabahar Port for which India will extend $500 million. The agreements and MoUs signed will further deepen the bilateral ties in diverse fields. The development project of Chabahar port has been drawing on the board for several years.

Caption: : Video Summary The Big Picture – PM Modi in Iran: Where are the ties heading?

The Chabahar port will give access to India to Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries without having to cross Pakistan.Apart from the bilateral agreement between India and Iran, a trilateral transit and trade corridor deal was also signed by India, Iran and Afghanistan which would ensure easy movement of goods between the three countries, bypassing Pakistan.

The whole visit is significant, but why Chabahar Port has been focused? Strategic importance of Chabahar Port is its location. Chabahar Port is roughly 70 kilometres west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port. The Chabahar Port provides a connectivity by road from Iranian port city of Chabahar to a point at Iran’s Northern border with Afghanistan, from where Delaram–Zaranj Highway starts.

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About Delaram–Zaranj Highway project The Delaram-Zaranj Highway also known as Route 606 or A71 is a 218 km roadway in the Nimruz Province of Afghanistan connecting the Delaram District in Afghanistan to the northern border of Iran. The opposite way goes towards the south near Zaranj, Afghanistan. From Zaranj, the highway connects to Zabol across the border in Iran. Zabol is well-connected by road to the Port of Chabahar. Totally financed by India, the highway project was completed in 2009 with a cost of $152 million USD. It is one of the busiest roads in Afghanistan and provides an important trade route between Iran and the rest of Asia. The highway thus provides land-locked Afghanistan an alternative way to access the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, instead of relying solely on the unstable Pakistani routes.