KABUL (TCA) — Iranian embassy officials in Kabul say that the development of a railway system in Afghanistan will help boost the country’s trade with Iran and other Central Asian countries, and that in order to boost trade through its Chabahar port, Iran is working to connect Chabahar’s railway line to the railway network in Afghanistan, TOLOnews reports.
Iranian embassy officials said the development of Afghanistan’s railways to the north and east of the country could play a major role in expanding trade between Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian countries.
“We are working to connect the Chabahar Free Zone to Afghanistan; to South Asia, to Arab countries, to Central Asia, through the national railway lines of Iran; in fact to the Caucasus region and via Turkey to Europe,” said Sayed Qasim Zakari, economic advisor to the embassy of Iran.
On February 17 in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani oversaw the signing of the agreement which would lease the operational control of Shahid Beheshti port — phase one of Chabahar port — to India for 18 months.
India is helping Iran develop Chabahar Port on the Gulf of Oman for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan, which has refused to provide New Delhi access through a land route.
India committed up to $500 million for the development of Chabahar.
Rouhani emphasized that Chabahar could reinforce Iran and India’s historical ties by serving as a bridge connecting the subcontinent to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Chabahar provides India with an easier land-sea route to Afghanistan. Last November, India sent its first cargo of wheat to Afghanistan through Chabahar. The cargo was shipped from India’s western port of Kandla, was unloaded at Chabahar and eventually taken to Afghanistan’s Nimroz province by trucks.
