India to go ahead with investment in Iran's Chabahar Port
Sun Oct 26, 2014 3:1AM GMT
With
the political inhibitions of the previous government out of the way,
India has chosen to push through with its plans to invest in the Iranian
port city of Chabahar, Press TV reports.
Afraid of clouding relations with the United States, the previous
administration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would not get the
investment off the ground. However, the present government headed by
Premier Narendra Modi cleared the move just a few months after taking
office.Iran’s Chabahar Port, located 72 kilometers (44 miles) west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port, holds immense strategic and economic significance for India. It is already connected to the city of Zaranj in Afghanistan’s southwestern province of Nimruz and can serve as India’s entry point to Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond.
Trade ties between Iran and India have been witnessing a boom. According to Indian sources, the export of engineering goods and products to Iran has increased dramatically.
In July, shipments showed an increase of around 140 percent, which amounted to $177 million. Last year, the figure only stood at $52 million.
HN/NN/AS