TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and India’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal signed the contract for partnership of the India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) in equipping and operation of the freight and container terminals of Shahid Beheshti  Port in Chabahar.

The signing of this contract is regarded as a turning point in bilateral and regional cooperation and facilitates strategic partnership between Iran and India, the website of Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development (MRUD) reported.

One of the major goals of concluding this contract, which was achieved as a result of the expert negotiations of joint task forces, is realizing the goals of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the tripartite transit agreement of Iran, India and Afghanistan for international transit and transport through the Chabahar Port signed in 2016, and development of multimodal transit and transport cooperation between Iran and India in the Central Asian region within the framework of the strategic cooperation between India and Central Asia.

In addition, strengthening and facilitating transit cooperation between India and Afghanistan through Iran’s territory, developing the eastern parts of the Makran coasts, and developing regional cooperation between Iran, India and Russia for joint investments in the regional transport and transit infrastructure are among other goals of this contract.

As per this agreement, in order to equip and develop the Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar, Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) will hand over parts of the freight and container terminals of the Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar to India for 10 years while India invests $120 million for the supply of strategic equipment of the Port and $250 million on the transport infrastructures of Chabahar.

According to this contract, the parties are committed to fulfilling their obligations in facilitating transit along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), developing shipping lines between the ports of the two countries and attracting container transit freights.

The Chabahar Port as an ocean port is located in the southeastern Province of Sistan and Balouchestan of Iran and is considered a crucial gateway for India to gain access to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Russia bypassing Pakistan.