India, Iran agree to accelerate Chabahar port project

India and Iran have agreed to accelerate Chabahar port project, Indian foreign minister has said.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that the agreement was reached during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif who was visiting India.

The Indian-backed Chabahar port complex on Iran’s coast along the Gulf of Oman is being developed as a transportation corridor for land-locked Afghanistan.

Based on data from the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, 500,000 tonnes of goods have been transported via Chabahar port.

Afghanistan has exported nearly 1,000 tonnes of talc to India via Chabahar port, according to Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, deputy head of Chamber of Industries and Mines.

He, however, said that Indian companies have not made the payments due to US sanctions.

Mahdi Rouhani, director of transport services at the Ministry of Transport, said that representatives from Afghanistan, Iran and India discussed problems faced by traders during the second meeting of joint committee to develop Chabahar port.

He said that banks should be established in New Delhi and Iran for the transfer of money to traders.