PM Modi On Way To Iran, Chabahar Port High On Agenda
02:03PM Sun 22 May, 2016
NEW DELHI, May 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started on his two-day visit to Iran -- his first since taking over office two years ago. The visit comes four months after the sanctions on Iran were lifted and the international community is re-engaging with the nation.
Here are the top 10 developments in this big story:
- "India and Iran have always focused to add strength to our relations, even during the difficult times. In the current context, both countries can look to expand our cooperation in the fields of trade, technology, investment and infrastructure and energy security," PM Modi told Iran's IRNA news agency.
- PM Modi will land at the Teheran airport this evening. Later, he will meet a delegation of Sikhs residing in Iran and visit a local Gurdwara.
- During the visit he will engage with the Iranian top leadership, including President Hassan Rouhani to boost trade, energy and strategic ties. He will also meet Iran's supreme religious and political leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
- The centerpiece of the Prime Minister's visit will be the signing of a trilateral agreement on Chabahar -- a strategic port in the Gulf of Oman on Iran's southern coast with Afghanistan.
- India will help develop the port, investing in the first phase around $200 million to develop terminals and cargo berths at Chabahar. In the next phase, India plans to build a 500-km railway line between Chabahar and Zahedan.
- Ahead of PM Modi's visit, India has cleared part of its $6.4 billion oil dues to Iran. Discussions will also be held on the modalities of payment for the rest.
- The bilateral talks will also feature Indian firms securing rights to develop the offshore Farzad-B gas field, which was discovered by ONGC Videsh.
- During PM Modi's visit, Afghanistan and Iran will sign an agreement to set up a trade and transport corridor with Chabahar as the hub. With this, landlocked Afghanistan will get access to the Iranian port as an alternate to the Pakistani port of Karachi.
- Chabahar will provide India with another route to into Afghanistan - with which it has developed close diplomatic and strategic ties -- and central Asian countries. Now India does not have access to Afghanistan on a land route due to opposition from Pakistan.
- India's move is also being seen as a balance to China's influence in Pakistan. Chabahar is 100 km from Pakistan's Gwadar port, which China is developing. The Chinese project comes on the heels of its investments in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives.
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