Iran invites India to review Chabahar-Zahedan rail project; quells 'India ousted' claims

Quelling reports on India's ouster from the Chabahar-Zahedan railway project, Indian ambassador Gaddam Dharmendra, on Monday was invited by Iran Railways head Saeed Rasouli to review ongoing co-op on Chabahar-Zahedan railway. Moreover, Rasouli stated that vested interests were behind recent reports that Iran excluded India from the Chabahar-Zahedan railway. The MEA too had termed the reports speculative, asserting that the Iranian side was to nominate an authorised entity to finalise the outstanding technical and financial issues.

Chabahar-Zahedan rail project awaits appointment by Iran of entity to finalise pending issues: MEA

Iran invites India to review

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India ousted from Chabahar port?

Several media reports stated that Iran had ousted India from the long-cherished railway project due to allegedly delayed funding by India. An Indian company has been operating part of the Chabahar port since 2018 and has handled 12 lakh tonnes of bulk cargo and 8200 containers, as per reports. The Chabahar-Zahedan railway - a 628 km rail track along the Iran Afghanistan border to help carry goods from Chabahar port to Afghanistan - is a pivotal strategic interest to India.

Speaking on these 'speculative' reports, MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava said,“The Iranian side was to nominate an authorized entity to finalise outstanding technical and financial issues. This is still awaited.” He added, "IRCON which was appointed by the government of India to assess the feasibility of the project has completed site inspection and review of feasibility.

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China-Iran strategic partnership

These reports had followed after China signed a US $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran amid hard-pressed US sanctions, as reported by the New York Times (NYT). The deal reportedly talks about expanding Chinese presence in Iran’s “banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects”. In return, Iran is to provide a regular and “heavily discounted” supply of oil to China for 25 years. Moreover, the proposed draft also includes deepening military cooperation and intelligence sharing, as per the NYT report.

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What is the Chabahar port project?

The port project - initiated in 2003 - was finally made operational in 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran. The port which was projected to bypass Pakistan and open Indian goods to markets in Afghanistan was delayed due to  US sanctions on Iran. In October 2017, late Sushma Swaraj flagged off India’s first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan.