Chabahar port aims to bypass Pakistan in linking Middle East to Asia, India

Inaugurated on Sunday, the Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman will look to connect the Middle East to Central and East Asia, according to multiple media reports.    The first phase of the deepwater Chabahar port was inaugurated on Sunday by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to multiple media reports.
   The Chabahar project, located on the Gulf of Oman near China-backed Gwadar port in Pakistan, is important for India as it will allow it to bypass Pakistan in accessing Afghanistan and Central Asia. Chabahar is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. By gradually increasing capacity, the port will open markets in Afghanistan and Central Asia to Indian products.
   The current capacity of the harbor after the expansion is reported to be 8.5 million tons of cargo annually, reports said. Last year, India agreed to invest another $500 million (420 million euros) in developing the port along with road and rail line, media reports said.
   At the inauguration, the surrounding nations of India, Iran and Afghanistan “reiterated their commitment to the early operationalization of the port that will contribute to bilateral and regional trade and economic development, apart from providing land-locked Afghanistan an alternative access to regional and global markets,” said local source Times of India.