Media: Indian cargo may pass through Azerbaijan

India intends to sign an agreement with Iran to manage the Chabahar port over the next ten years and link it to the North-South International Transport Corridor, of which Azerbaijan is an important transport hub.

Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal will travel to Iran on 13 May to sign the agreement, Report informs, citing The Economic Times.

This is the first time India will take over the management of a foreign port. The new agreement will be valid for 10 years and will be automatically renewed.

In the future, it is planned to link Chabahar with the North-South International Transport Corridor, which will connect India with Russia via Iran. This trade route is designed to transport goods from India and the Gulf States to Western and Northern Europe through the territories of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, including by connecting the railways of these three countries.

The main advantage of the corridor is to reduce the time of cargo delivery by two or three times.

Chabahar Port is located in south-eastern Iran. India and Iran agreed to jointly develop the port in 2003, but the project was postponed due to international sanctions against Iran. In 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Tehran, announced New Delhi's intention to invest $500 million in the construction of port infrastructure. In May 2016, India signed a trilateral agreement with Iran and Afghanistan to build the Shahid Beheshti terminal at the port.