It is time that the Indian Commerce Minister arranges to send a trade delegation to Iran and attempts to secure contracts for supplying rails, wagons, locomotives besides offering to do rail-road contracts

Originally conceived and proposed by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who took the initiative to sign an MOU with the then President of Iran, Mohammed Khatami, more than a decade ago, this joint venture now approved by Premier Narendra Modi to invest some $86 million (or about Rs520 crore) in the development of Chabahar is a welcome sign in establishing further our firm relations with that country.

According to the available information in the press, which were covered in these columns earlier, the Chabahar port is just 76 kms away from Gwader Port in Baluchistan, being developed and under the supervision of China.

This proposed investment in Chabahar port would be a joint venture with the Indian side represented by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust with the Iranian Port and Maritime Organisation. This will cover the cost of equipping two berths within the next 12 months, one as a terminal for containers and the other to meet general multipurpose cargo needs. Once completed, this will facilitate the cargo movement not only within Iran through its own rail and road networks, but also make it possible for India to send its goods to Afghanistan via Zaranj, which is 883 kms away.

In fact, as early as 2009, not long ago though, India had assisted Afghanistan in building this Zaranj-Delaram road, which connects the well-known Afghanistan garden highway, which covers the cities of Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.

Additionally, if rail-road extensions are planned and laid now, it would make it possible for Indian goods to access CIS countries as well.

This development in Chabahar could bring Iran closer to India in enabling her to export gas and urea and, facilitate import of essential goods like rice, soya, and pharmaceutical and engineering products from India.

It is time that Indian Commerce Minister arranges to send a trade delegation to this country and attempt to secure contracts for supplying rails, wagons, locomotives besides offering to do rail-road contracts. Our interest to increase trade with Iran must include setting up gas based industries like production of urea for them to export to India and to utilise their rupee account for joint ventures in setting up related industries in India, which could be again fertilisers, and guaranteeing to get required food grains, if necessary on a barter basis.

Our relationship with Iran needs to be strengthened by greater trade and mutual visits.

(AK Ramdas has worked with the Engineering Export Promotion Council of the ministry of commerce. He was also associated with various committees of the Council. His international career took him to places like Beirut, Kuwait and Dubai at a time when these were small trading outposts; and later to the US.)