TABNAK: First coal-carrying wagons will reach India through Iranian southern port city of Bandar Abbas from Russia, Igor Levitin, Russian Special Presidential Representative for International Cooperation said in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali.
Russia made the announcement at a meeting of BRICS transport ministers on the sidelines of the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
During the meeting, Jalali and Levitin discussed expanding and activating the North-South railroad corridor starting from India and ends in Russia with the Russian official called for boosting the volume of rail-road and naval transit between Tehran and Moscow.
Earlier last year, the two neighbors signed a deal to build Rasht-Astara railroad which is an important section of North-South transit network generally known as INSTC. Under the contract, Russia vowed to take over 1.6 billion euro investment required to accomplish the project.
Iran and Russia have touted the 162 km (100 mile) railway along the Caspian Sea coast as an important link in the INSTC, a corridor that connects India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries via railways and sea and can rival the Suez Canal as a major global trade route.
Experts say the route, which connects Russian ports on the Baltic Sea with Iranian ports in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, could significantly diversify global traffic flows.
The contract timetable started in early 2024 and ends in three to four years.
