Context:
India and Iran have further narrowed differences on a proposed 10-year pact for operations at the strategic Chabahar port.
About Chabahar Port:
- Location – Sistan and Baluchestan province, South-eastern part of Iran (Gulf of Oman)
- It is the only deep-sea port in Iran with direct ocean access.
- Consists of 2 separate ports – Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti.
- International Transport and Transit Corridor (Chabahar Agreement) –
- Signed by – India, Afghanistan and Iran (2016)
- Construction of a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan along the border with Afghanistan
- Linking to the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, as an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Zaranj-Delaram Highway in Afghanistan is a 215 km long highway that was already built in Afghanistan through assistance provided by India.
- Importance –
- Its location close to nations like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, along with its crucial role as a central hub on the growing International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
- India aims to make Chabahar Port a transit hub under the INSTC to reach out to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.
- It will make way for India to bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan using a sea-land route.
What are CIS Countries?
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
India’s other cross-border connectivity initiatives:
- Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Facility: The sea, river, land transport system linking Indian ports and Sittwe port in Myanmar and then through riverine transport and by road to Mizoram (India).
- India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project: 1360 km cross-border transportation network would link Moreh (India) to Mae Sot(Thailand) through Bagan(Myanmar).
- Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo Friendship Road: 160 km cross-border road from Tamu to Kalemyo in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region and forms part of the India-Myanmar Thailand Trilateral Highway.
- Mekong India Economic Corridor: It proposes to connect Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) with Dawei (Myanmar) via Bangkok (Thailand) and Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and further linking it to Chennai (India).
- Stilwell Road (the Ledo Road and the Burma Road): The World War II overland road linking Ledo in Assam (India) to Kunming in Yunnan (China) through Myanmar.
- Delhi-Hanoi Railway Link: It proposes to link India with Vietnam via Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
- Rhi-Tiddim Road in Myanmar: 80 km cross-border road from Rhi to Tiddim in Myanmar’s Chin State.
- BCIM Economic Corridor: The cross-border transportation network linking China’s Kunming to India’s Kolkata from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Source: Hindustan Times
Previous Year Question
With reference to India’s projects on connectivity, consider the following statements:
1. East-West Corridor under Golden Quadrilateral Project connects Dibrugarh and Surat.
2. The Trilateral Highway connects Moreh in Manipur and Chiang Mai in Thailand via Myanmar.
3. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor connects Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with Kunming in China.
How many of the above statements are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2023 Prelims]
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Answer: (d)
Explanation:
Golden Quadrilateral Project network connects Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west. Trilateral Highway connects Moreh in Manipur and Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor connects Kolkata with Kunming in China. Hence, all the statements are not correct.
