Wednesday, October 13 2021 13:39

ArmInfo. Foreign Minister Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Minister of External Affairs  of India and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar  discussed the latest positive  developments around the Chabahar port. Armenian Foreign Minister  Ararat Mirzoyan stated this at a joint press conference with the  Indian Minister of External Affairs  on October 13 in Yerevan.

"We certainly discussed infrastructure issues in a large region. This  also applies to the North-South international corridor, and as my  counterpart from India has already said, our countries are interested  in this initiative, in its implementation. We also discussed the  latest positive processes around the port of Chabahar in the  southeast of Iran, and the establishment of direct transport links  between Armenia and India, and of course, the issue of transit  traffic from Armenia to the north, through Georgia to Russia, and  possibly through the Black Sea to Europe. This issue is one of the  priorities on our agenda, "Mirzoyan said.

At the same time, referring to the "Persian Gulf - Black Sea"  initiative, the RA Foreign Minister stressed that Yerevan yesterday  discussed this issue with the Iranian side, and we can state that  dynamic processes are going on around this document as well. "I hope  that in the near future we will already have a signed document,"  Mirzoyan said.

In turn, the Indian Foreign Minister noted that in the modern world,  interconnectedness is becoming increasingly important in relations.

"We all need new contacts, as new production centers are being formed  in the world. We have seen what happened in the Suez Canal in the  recent past, how difficult the trade between Europe and Asia was. For  us, the issue of international transport corridors is of key  importance, and we pay special attention to them," the Indian Foreign  Minister said, pointing out the value of Armenia's participation in  these projects, which in turn will open up additional opportunities.

To note, the strategic port of Chabahar in the southeast of Iran  occupies a special place in the Tehran's "Look to the East" strategy,  and it may connect India with Central Asia, the Caucasus and the  coastal states of the Persian Gulf. The port of Chabahar, as Iran's  only ocean port on the Makran coast, is not only important for  India's geopolitical interests in Western Asia, but may also play a  key role in bringing Afghanistan out of its current geographic  impasse and in providing India with easy and inexpensive access to  its neighbors. In addition, the importance of the port has doubled  for India due to China's efforts to increase its influence over  India's neighbors. China is trying to limit India's sector of  influence in Pakistan by launching a Belt and Road Initiative and  investing in the Pakistani port of Gwadar. It was on this basis that  New Delhi decided to make a major investment in the port of Chabahar.

The importance of Chabahar to India is so great that it has been  developing this southern Iranian port for nearly three decades. In  fact, the development of the Chabahar project goes far beyond  increasing trade relations and exports to Iran.

India's first challenge is to compete with the strategic alliance of  China and Pakistan and find an alternative to the port of Gwadar.  Gwadar is practically the Pakistani "side port" of the Iranian  Chabahar and is located on the other side of the border in Pakistani  Baluchistan. The distance between the two ports is 170 km and China  plays the same role in Gwadar as India does in Chabahar. Like  Chabahar, Gwadar will become a deep-water port.

Chabahar is also a key point for India in the ambitious North-South  International Transport Corridor project. The agreement has been  waiting for a miracle since 2000 to pave the way for a new trade and  communication line that will connect India to the north through the  port of Chabahar.

According to experts, India's export to Central Asia, the Caucasus  and even Russia through the port of Chabahar saves about a third of  the cost and time of transporting goods to these countries, and this  factor may play a role in lowering prices for Indian goods.