New Delhi: India has taken over operations of the strategic Chabahar port in the Sistan-Balochistan province of energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, the government said Monday. “The Government of India took over the operations of a part of Shahid Beheshti Port, Chabahar, in Iran during the Chabahar Trilateral Agreement meeting held there on December 24, 2018,” the Shipping Ministry said in a statement here. India started interacting with Iran on Chabahar port around 2003 but a major push was received in the second half of 2014, resulting in the signing of an MoU between the two countries for the development of Chabahar Port in May 2015. The first phase of the Chabahar port was inaugurated in December 2017 by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, opening a new strategic route connecting Iran, India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan. Under the agreement signed between India and Iran earlier, India is to equip and operate two berths in Chabahar Port Phase-I with capital investment of $85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of $22.95 million on a 10-year lease.

Source: Mint January 07, 2019 12:22 UTC