India Had to Compete With China to Bag the Chabahar Port Agreement
Chabahar Port is important for India as it helps bypass Pakistan to reach Afghanistan.
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India had to compete with China to sign the historic Chabahar Agreement, as the neighbouring country was trying to woo Iran for the same, reports The Times of India.
The Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Iran in January which was followed by a visit paid by a Chinese consortium to Chabahar’s free trade zone in April, where they expressed their eagerness to invest in the strategically important port.
In a joint statement given by Iran and China, “development of ports” was included as one of the areas of cooperation.
Iran too seemed to be fiddling with both sides, warning that once the international sanctions were lifted, Iran wouldn’t involve itself in negotiations.
In the past few months, India had to hurriedly sign the contract between IPGPL (India Ports Global Private Limited) and Iranian firm Arya Banader while simultaneously confirming the availability of up to Rs 3,000 crore for the import of steel rails for the project.
The contract also has specific timelines for its implementation.
Once the Chabahar Port is fully developed, it will provide Afghanistan an alternative port/infrastructure and linkage, via Iran, to that of Pakistan while India will gain full-fledged cargo handling facilities on a large scale on the Gulf of Oman.
It will also prevent the China-Pakistan axis from establishing its unbridled dominance in a sensitive and resource rich region.