India has proposed inclusion of Chabahar port in the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route
Context
India has proposed inclusion of Chabahar port in the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route
What is INSTC?
- The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
- The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road.
- The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc.
- This will also synchronize with the Ashgabat agreement.
Chabahar Port
- Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman.
- It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths
Ashgabat Agreement
- Ashgabat Agreement envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
- It is a multimodal transport agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Oman.