Tuesday May 24, 2016
Kabul (BNA) President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday signed a three-way transit agreement on Iran’s southern port of Chabahar. President Ghani said that Asia is changing today and that it is moving towards an economic continent.
He added that in the next coming years, $60 trillion USD will be invested in infrastructure and most of it will be invested in Asia. He also said that today will be considered as the beginning of regional cooperation to bring stability to the region. “Our will starts from Chabahar today, but its end will be an all-out comprehensive development and economic-cultural cooperation,” said Ghani. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi said it will invest up to $500 million in a deal to develop a strategic port in Iran and both countries planned a number of projects they say are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Today is an important and historical day of development of relations between the three countries,” Rouhani said in a televised speech, seated between the two other leaders. “From Tehran, New Delhi and Kabul, this is a crucial message that the path to progress for regional countries goes through joint cooperation and utilizing regional opportunities.” Modi said: “We want to link to the world, but connectivity among ourselves is also a priority.” The deal and plans were announced during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first such trip in more than a decade. In a ceremony marking the agreements, Modi said the bilateral agreement to develop Chabahar, in southern Iran, and the “availability of about $500 million from India for this purpose is an important milestone,” in relations between the two countries. The development of the port of Chabahar expands a trade route for the land-locked countries of central Asia that by passes Pakistan. Modi also described cooperation in the oil and gas industries as key components of economic cooperation between Tehran and Delhi. Iran President Hassan Rouhani said working on the port can be a “Great Symbol” of cooperation between Iran and India. He said Iran’s energy resources and Indian mines can pave ground for cooperation in the aluminum, steel and petrochemical industries. The two countries also signed a number of agreements to enhance technological, petrochemical and banking cooperation. India also began paying back $6 billion in debt from past oil purchases, last week giving Iran $750 million.
