Iran, Afghanistan and India
will soon sign an agreement on the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf on Oman
to link Afghanistan with India, said Shakib Mostaghni, spokesman for Afghan
ministry of foreign affairs. (IRNA, 25 March)
The landlocked Afghanistan
would need a major seaport to export its newly found huge mineral deposits. The
mines, including some of the largest unexplored copper, iron and gold deposits
in the world, were identified and mapped by U.S. Defense Department’s Task
Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) in 2009-2011. They also
include significant lithium and rare earth metals.
To use Chahbahar,
Afghanistan needs to send the ores to railhead to be constructed in Herat for
transshipment through Iranian railway system to Chabahar. The railway linking
Iran to Herat is under construction by the Iranians, but its completion has
been constantly delayed due to right-of-passage for property owners and other issues.
Chabahar, a deep-sea port
on the Gulf of Oman in Iranian Baluchistan, is a short distance away for Gwadar
Port on Pakistani side of Baluchistan on the Arabian Sea. Shipping mineral ores
from central and eastern Afghanistan straight through Pakistan to Gwadar is a viable alternative.
However, tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and security issues
at their border regions make Chabahar an attractive route to bypass Pakistan altogether.
File photo: Port of Chabahar in Iranian Baluchistan on the Gulf of Oman (IRNA)
The Chinese investing in Gwader
ReplyDeletetake the business out of Gwader and let the incompetent paki hunger
This has been in the works for a while and Iran and India must help each other as well as secure Afghanistan from Pakistani/Taliban terror with its Wahhabi sponsors in the corrupt Saudi cesspool. Chah Bahar was the Shah's original idea to have secure port outside the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran's strategic outlet to the Indian Ocean and main maritime trading routes. Iran must ensure security is Sistan and totally hermatically seal the border with the Pakistani failed state that is harboring a wide range of terrorists ranging from Wahhabi cannibals to MEK and Zionist supported murdering terrorists who havve targeted Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteThe first step should be to beef up naval and subramine patrols in the Sea of Oman as Char Bahar is barely 35 kms from the terror infested Pakistan and only 70kms from the Chinese controlled port of Gwader in Pakistan's succession plagued war torn provinvce of Baluchistan. Iran has to invest in border security and improve training of the IRGC officers that allowed the Wahabbi terrorists to kidnap the 5 Iranian border guards.
The Chabahar port is located near the Iran-Pakistan border facing the Arabian Sea. Established in 1992, the Chabahar Free Trade--Industrial Zone is the only free trade zone in the Middle East outside the Persian Gulf. Along the same coast, at a distance of over 70 km from Chabahar, is the Pakistani port of Gwadar built with US$200 million in Chinese assistance.
While Chabahar offers many opportunities to India, it is Afghanistan which is the focus in the near term. Denied greater security cooperation with Afghanistan due to international pressure, the Indo-Afghan relationship relies on trade and economic assistance. Pakistan’s constant terrorism and denial of transit to Indian exports to Afghanistan adds to the situation. It is in this scenario that Chabahar provides the opportunity to India to sustain its relationship with Afghanistan and protect its investments and economic interests.
The key to India's strategy in Afghanistan is to build transportation links that bypass Pakistan. Thereby, reduce the Afghan economy's dependence on Pakistan and at the same time step-up bilateral trade with Afghanistan. In the process also increase trade links with Central Asian Republics (CARs) through Afghanistan and Iran. The Indian Army's Border Roads Organisation constructed a major road in 2009, connecting Delaram on the Afghan ring highway with Zaranj, the capital of province of Nimroz, which borders Iran. This completed the linking of Chabahar port to the Kandahar-Herat highway.
Two rail projects are also enhancing the connectivity of Afghanistan. The first project, to be undertaken by India, plans to link Chabahar to Fahraj on the Bam-Zahedan railway line. As the second project, Iran is constructing a railway line from its city of Khaf to Herat in Afghanistan. The portion of this railway line falling in Iran has already been completed, while the second portion of 124 km, comprising two sections, is under construction in Afghanistan. Construction of the first section, closer to the Iranian border, is being financed by Iran ($75mn) and the second (Ghorian-Herat) is managed by the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation/Asian Development Bank (CAREC/ADB) programme.
Pakistan is a dirt poor failed state that has been turned into terror central by the Saudis and Khaleeji puppet pimps. There are 10,000 Pakistani mercenaries involved in the repression in Bahrain and a couple of divisions in the servitude of the House of Saud. Iran is is the prime target for the Wahhabis as it is the front-line against the madrassa spawned terror and now Pakistan's ISI will increase the targeting of Iran as its ties with India develop further. This project will only succeed if both India and Iran also invest in border security and impose a cost on the failed Pakistani state for nurturing and sponsoring terrorists.
China too must withdraw from Gwadar, Pakistan and concentrate to extend railway tracks linking Iran-Afghan to link to China via Tajikstan. Forget Pakistan Bastards let them live in their misery they created. China will benefit from this railway link and India will benefit from the seaport rail link. Enough and neglect pakistan for their crimes created jointly with wahabi dogs.
DeleteI am really disapointed of the Irania administration, specially during the Ahmadi Nejhad. They could have built and modernized this port with the huge money they during his era but the money disappeared and the port was not touched. They have to build this port and put facilities so that they quickly can offer other countries to use the port. how long are they going to wait and loose opportunities?
ReplyDelete