India Advances Trade Plans With Iran

India is trying to open up more direct trade corridors with Central Asia. Two of the country's largest state-owned ports have enlisted the help of a private firm to help develop Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar. According to media reports from March 3, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, which is south of Mumbai and is India's busiest container port, will develop loading facilities in Chabahar. Kandla Port, which is located in western India's Gujarat state and is India's biggest cargo handler by volume, will help establish dry bulk handling facilities at Chabahar.

Iran has been increasingly interested in developing its trade infrastructure; earlier the same day, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's international affairs adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, called for a trade corridor between Chabahar and the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

India's interest in Chabahar is more about bypassing Pakistan for access to Central Asia. A sea-route to Iran offers a better alternative to a land route through India's western neighbors. Tense relations with Pakistan and the difficult terrain and security risks of the Afghanistan-Pakistan land corridor make port-to-port trade with Tehran significantly more desirable. But given the scale of the project and political, logistical and financial limitations, a potential Indian-Iranian ocean trade corridor is more of a long-term project for both countries.