KANDLA TO CHABAHAR AND ONWARDS TO BIG MARKETS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Monday that Kandla port in Gujarat will soon be connected with Iran’s Chabahar port, which will give a boost to India’s international trade and place the Indian port firmly on the global map. India Ports Global Pvt. Ltd (IPGPL) will develop and operate the Chabahar port. IPGPL is in the process of setting up two container berths and three multi-cargo berths there. Chabahar Port in Iran, which is located to the west of Gwadar Port in Pakistan is being developed and used jointly with Iran. And based on the Chabahar Port, we are also making our very own roadway and railway (in Iran) to join Iran and Afghanistan, without really having to join or touch Pakistan

Chabahar port allows India to have access to major Afghanistan cities like Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandhar. which directly allows Afghanistan to be less dependent on Pakistan (a troublesome neighbour) for Indian product as Chabahar port bypasses Pakistan directly. On Iranian side India can directly access International North South Trade Corridor (INSTC) to reach its goods to Europe. This route is 40% shorter and 30% cheaper than current sea route (currently sea route via Red sea to Suez canal is used for trade and transportation). Chabahar corridor could bring down cost and time of cargo trade to Europe by about 50%. The port is connected to Iranian existing highways which are linked to Zaranj in Afghanistan which further connects to 218 km Zanranj-Delaram highway constructed by India in 2009 at cost of Rs 600 crore. So ultimately it is a lifeline for landlocked country like Afghanistan to boost its trade and regional connectivity to International market and ensure its economic growth. IRCON International will set up a railway line at Chabahar to move goods right up to Afghanistan. Indian companies would set up a range of industries from aluminum smelter to urea plants in the region. State-owned NALCO ( National Aluminum Corporation) will set up an aluminum smelter while private and co-operative fertilizer firms are keen to build urea plants.

At present, Pakistan does not allow India to transport through its territory to Afghanistan.  It would be absurd to consider India’s investment in Chabahar port as just a strategy to counter China’s influence in Central Asia. To have diplomatic and trade relations with Central Asian countries is important for India as well. But the problem has been the Pakistan’s approach. It was either Pakistan or Iran, through which India can reach to Central Asia via Afghanistan.

Chabahar port will make way for India to bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan using a sea-land route.The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Astrakhan etc. More or less CPEC ( China Pakistan Economic Corridor) will help only PAK & China but Chabahar has potential for other countries also. Keeping its importance in mind it would not be wrong to say Chabahar Port run by India will be as successful as CPEC. The success of Gwadar would depend on stability in Pakistan and the success of Chabahar can be maximized with a stable Afghanistan.