New Delhi, November 18
India and Afghanistan have pulled off a diplomatic and strategic coup over Pakistan, significantly with the help of Shia-dominated Iran as the three countries have decided to connect the Iranian port of Chabahar with bordering Afghanistan which will eliminate the need of using Pakistani territory for Indo-Afghanistan trade.
India has agreed to create the supporting infrastructure by constructing a 200-km-long road from Afghanistan to Chabahar which would make the transit of Indian goods to Afghanistan easier and faster, do away with the need for using Pakistani territory for the purpose and grant Indian goods and products access to the Central Asian markets.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs here, India, Afghanistan and Iran are deeply interested in developing Chabahar port infrastructure and political atmosphere is conducive for taking cooperation among New Delhi, Kabul and Teheran to new heights.
Sources said the work on the 200-km-long strategic road from Kabul to Chabahar port in Iran would begin shortly and the project would be given highest priority. This road would connect the Iranian port to the main inland road to Afghanistan.
The decision on the Chabahar port project was taken a couple of months ago during Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal’s visit to Iran. This project came up for in-depth discussions today when the visiting Afghan Commerce Minister Syed Mustafa Kazmi called on External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha.
For last several years, Indo-Afghan trade is negligible because Pakistan does not allow the use of its territory for any bilateral trade between New Delhi and Kabul.
