In 2003, NDA-I charted out plans for developing Chabahar port
of Iran to bolster India’s pursuit for enhanced connectivity. But for the next
13 years, sanctions and lackadaisical Indian approach failed make perceptible
progress. With signing of India-Iran-Afghanistan Trilateral Agreement on Establishment
of Internal Transport and Transit Corridor, Prime Minister Modi on his visit to
Iran in 2016 infused fresh momentum to this project. Modi reiterated India’s
fervid interest in developing strategically located Chabahar that can
potentially circumvent territorial encumbrances posed by Pakistan. Owing to
India’s poor reputation in implementation of projects, strategists and
especially Iranians were skeptical about actualization of the project. Chabahar
located in Iran’s South Coast of Sistan-Baluchistan province, lies outside
Persian Gulf can be easily accessed from India’s west coast. It is 400 km from
Gwadar port developed by China under CPEC, by land and 72km away by air. Strategically,
Chabahar port will not only counter China’s presence in Arabian Sea but will open
new vistas of economic opportunities for India. Besides, by operating in the
Gulf of Oman, India can quickly mobilize help in the event of humanitarian
crisis or emergency evacuation. Till now Bandar-Abbas port of Iran could
process ships of 100,000 metric ton and hence larger ships are first off-loaded
at Jebel Ali port of UAE. Chabahar being a deep port can handle very heavy
vessels.
Afghanistan is a land-locked country and relied heavily on
Pakistan and its Karachi port for sending goods to India. For long, India
persuaded Pakistan to permit entry of Afghan trucks to the Indo-Pakistan Attari
border at Punjab. But Pakistan out rightly refused to allow the passage of
Indian goods through its territory. To smoothen hassles of connectivity between
the three nations, India pushed hard for inclusion of Afghanistan in the SAARC
(South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). In 2007, Afghanistan became
member of SAARC. Even then Pakistan firmly stood its ground. By 2010, Pakistan
and Afghanistan signed Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA)
whereby Afghan trucks could enter till Tokhram gate while Indian goods were
still denied transit through Pakistani land. All these years, Afghan goods to
be shipped to India were offloaded at Torkham gate and reloaded onto the
Pakistani trucks which carried them to the Wagah border. Empty Pakistani trucks
returned home after delivering Afghan goods. Pakistan’s intransigence drastically affected
the trade between India and Afghanistan. In 2016, Afghanistan threatened
Pakistan of blocking Islamabad’s access to Central Asia. But Pakistan refused
to budge. Initially India and Iran signed an agreement to develop Chabahar
port, to reduce dependence on Pakistan. But dogged by Pakistan’s implacability,
India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a connectivity agreement. Intriguingly,
while India bestowed MFN status to Pakistan, the later kept India out of APTTA.
Similarly, Pakistan denied overland
access to India for trade with Central Asian Republic (CAR)s. As a result, for
over three decades, India failed to substantially nurture trading ties with CAR
since their existence in 1992. Left with no other alternative India of shipping
goods to Afghanistan, India began operating expensive air freight corridors. Holding
to its ground of refurbishing trade links with Afghanistan, first Indian flight
carrying 100 tonnes of cargo reached Kabul in June. Efforts are now on to
commence more flight services from Amritsar to Kabul.
On December 3rd, Iranian President Rouhani
inaugurated first phase of the four phase Chabahar port giving a major fillip
to India’s ambitions of expanding its connectivity network. A day ahead of the
inauguration, Sushma Swaraj made an unannounced stopover at Tehran on her way
back from Sochi where she attended the annual summit of heads of government of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization indicating India’s commitment to build
strong ties with Iran. In addition, Minister of state for finance and Shipping
Ponniah Radhakrishnan represented India at the inauguration of first phase of
Shahid Behesti (Chabahar) port. India has committed $500 million towards
development of Chabahar port complex and SEZ complex for increased connectivity
to Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. Sixty representatives from 17 countries
attended the inauguration ceremony and Iran offered management rights of Phase
I to India. Japan is believed to collaborate with India for port development.
India offered $235 million towards phase II and obtained rights to operate two
berths and few terminals. The second trilateral ministerial conference decided
to finalize the protocols related to transport and transit, ports, custom
procedures, and consular affairs reiterating need for developing Chabahar as a
commercial hub.
A month ahead of the inauguration, India sent 1.1 lakh tonnes
of Wheat to Afghanistan through Chabahar port signaling its intent of
significantly upgrading trading links with Afghanistan. This shipment not only
exemplified India’s renewed commitment towards rebuilding of Afghanistan but
diminished the stranglehold of Pakistan. The shipment which was dispatched on
October 29th from the Kandla port in Gujarat reached Nirmoz province
in Western Afghanistan on November 11th. From Chabahar, the shipment reached Zahedan
by road built by Iran. Original plan, envisaged construction of a railway line
from Chabahar to Zahedan in collaboration with India’s IRCON and Construction,
Development of Transport, and Infrastructure Co, of Iran. As of now, the rail
line is still under construction. Iran
on its part, developed the Zahedan-Zaranj road on the Afghanistan border. India
constructed $135 million Zaranj to Delaram highway in Afghanistan. By
successfully harnessing the potential of the alternative connectivity circuit,
Modi government for the first time phenomenally raised India’s stature by
walking the talk. India is planning to
send six more shipments over next few months.
Indian efforts were lauded by America which in its recently
unveiled South Asian Policy sought greater role for India in stabilizing
Afghanistan. Surprisingly, Trump administration which harbored inimical approach
towards Iran and sought annulment of the historic nuclear deal, raised no
objections to India using Chabahar port of Iran for shipment of goods to
Afghanistan. America’s acquiescence can potentially alter the regional
geopolitical calibrations and may pave way for changing US’s stance towards
Iran. Curiously, US didn’t raise objection to the operationalization of
Chabahar, which was constructed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard
affiliated company Khatam al-Anbia. Operationalization of Chabahar port seems to have deferred
America’s decision of decertifying Iran for a while. By consequence, even the
fear of economic sanctions has evaporated into thin airs for time being. Else,
economic sanctions can critically hamper the construction and economic activity
at the port.
Moreover, Iran is gateway for the International North South
Transport Corridor (INSTC), an ambitious connectivity network of intricate rail
and road routes to Russia, Central Asia, and Europe. India, Iran and Russia the
founding members of this connectivity project signed an agreement in 2002 to
develop multimodal route. But unfortunately, sanctions on Iran dented the
progress. Initially countries agreed on the planned route of Mumbai in Delhi to
Bandar-Abbas and Bandar-e-Anzali in Iran to Astrakhan and Moscow in Russia
across the Caspian Sea. With the opening of phase I of Chabahar, INSTC might
consider using Chabahar instead of Bandar-Abbas. With China making rapid
inroads into the Eurasian region through the CARs Modi stressed the need for
expediting the North-South corridor to realize the untapped economic potential
the regions offer. INSTC is now expanded to include 11 new members-Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus,
Oman, Syria, and Bulgaria. This corridor would immensely help India in consolidating
economic and traditional ties with Central Asian and Eurasian countries.
Plagued by lethargy and indifference, for decades, India has
been on a back foot and never made fervent efforts for painstakingly building
connectivity hubs to explore potential markets. India is now enthusiastically
reclaiming and restructuring various connectivity networks with renewed vigor. India’s
ongoing connectivity projects in the North East, Bangladesh, Sagarmala, active
persuasion of BBIN and rediscovery of the old routes to connectivity through
BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral for Technical and Economic
Cooperation) stands testimony to Delhi’s commitment to fast-track connectivity.
Actualization of first phase of Chabahar port exemplifies India’s new approach.
There are concerns of economic viability of Chabahar on long run since the
region is peppered with a mosaic of ports which include-Khalifa port of Abu Dhabi,
Duqm Port of Oman and Gwadar in Pakistan. Further, there are widespread
speculations regarding the full-fledged development of Chabahar owing to
brewing chaos and hostility in Middle East. As of now, India has undoubtedly
put its best foot forward. May this propitious beginning steadily enhance
trading potentialities of India and further its outreach in its sphere of
influence, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
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