Chabahar Project

India will emphasise optimising the use of Iran's Chabahar Port and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as inclusive connectivity initiatives for Eurasia

Iran on Friday strongly pitched for faster implementation of the Chabahar port project as well as use of the facility by India to send various shipments saying the key transit hub will benefit both the countries. Iranian Ambassador Iraj Elahi also sought resumption of import of crude oil by India from Iran while citing New Delhi not succumbing under pressure by the Western powers to not continue procurement of petroleum products from Russia following the Ukraine crisis. India stopped procurement of crude oil from Iran after the US did not continue with sanction waivers to India and several other countries. "We believe that India is and was strong and powerful to stand against the pressure of the West... India is a rising power. India has a powerful economy. So India could easily resist pressure from the US and the West," the ambassador told a group of journalists. Citing India's resistance against pressure to not buy oil from Russia, Elahi hoped that New Delhi would soon start ...

Terming India-Iran relations as "friendly and cordial", Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the Chabahar-Central Asia transit route can help both nations strengthen the grounds for cooperation

India and Iran on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) mutually recognising certificates of competency in unlimited voyages of seafarers from both the nations.

If New Delhi eschews business with the Taliban, it will have to do business on Iran's terms to develop Chabahar port

His remarks come after media reports claimed that India has been left out of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway project in Iran

India has, however, refuted the report saying it remains committed to the rail project

Congress leader cites media report that claimed that Iran has dropped India from the Chabahar rail project

The shipping ministry had requested exemptions to IPGL from the applicability of the DPE guidelines

In the meeting over breakfast, Zarif apprised Jaishankar about the overall situation and Tehran's position over it

The two leaders also welcomed the utilisation of the port for exports from Afghanistan and discussed ways to promote it for enhancing wider regional connectivity for trade and transit

The meeting was chaired by India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif

Earlier, Zarif tweeted that the two countries held, "excellent discussions on closer bilateral relations & regional & global issues affecting our respective countries."

The first meeting of this "follow-up committee" took place on October 23 last year

On Tuesday, Trump decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity

The next meeting of the Coordination Council will be held in the first half of 2019 in India

Behind the emerging problems with Chabahar lie growing apprehensions that the ambitious project may not be able to deliver on its promise

Dramatic shifts in West Asian geo-strategic realities have complicated India's participation in Iran's recently inaugurated Chabahar deep-sea port

The port is easily accessed from India's western coast, bypassing Pakistan