India takes over operation of Chabahar’s berth

ISLAMABAD: India has taken over operations of a berth in Iranian strategic Chabahar Port in the Sistan-Balochistan province of energy-rich Iran's southern coast on Monday.

Diplomatic sources here reminded that India that has established its footprints in Djibouti, Oman, Sri Lanka and Maldives, now established its access in Iranian coast. “It is part of so-called Indo-Pacific Quart, which was constituted by the United States, Japan, Australia and India, to check China and counter Russia in the region.”

Obviously, it’s a source of concern for Pakistan and China, both, that India is trying to overstretching of its capacity, the sources reminded. Pakistan has expressed hope that India wouldn’t be permitted by Iran to create any difficulty for Pakistan by sitting in Chabahar.

“Pakistan views Chabahar as complimentary port for Gwadar but, certainly, not competitive,” the sources said and hinted that Pakistan would monitor the development as how much trade would be transacted through this Iranian berth which would be operated by India. Pakistan is hopeful that India wouldn’t be allowed to convert the berth on the port into military base.

Interestingly, Iran has made an open offer to Pakistan or any other country to take a berth to develop at Chabahar and operate it. It has about five berths at the port in question. Meantime, India has claimed that the Indian government took over the operations of a part of Shahid Beheshti Port, Chabahar, in Iran during the Chabahar Trilateral Agreement meeting held there on December 24, 2018,” the Indian shipping ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.

The heads of Indian, Iranian and Afghanistan delegations jointly inaugurated the office of the Indian SPV—India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ) at Chabahar. “The physical take-over of the terminal area, cargo handling equipment and office building was completed by December 29, 2018,” the statement said. Commercial operations began at IPGCFZ with the arrival of a vessel, it said adding, a Cyprus registered bulk carrier had arrived at Chabahar with 72,458 MT of corn cargo. “This step marks the beginning of a long journey.

India has written a history with its engagement in Chabahar and is now leading the regional cooperation and joint efforts to support landlocked Afghanistan. This is the first time, India will be operating a port outside its erritories,”the statement said. India started interacting with Iran on Chabahar Port around 2003, but a major push was received in the second half of 2014, resulting in the signing of an MoU between the two countries for the development of Chabahar Port in May 2015. Interestingly, during those days, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inked China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.