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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| India formally takes over operations at Chabahar port to support Afghanistan |
| 2018-12-26 |
| [Khaama (Afghanistan)] India has formally taken over the operations at Chabahar port in Iran in a bid to further increase New Delhi’s support to Afghanistan, it has been reported. Sources privy fo the development have told Hindustan Times that Iran formally handed over the port to India during a first meeting of the follow-up committee for the implementation of the Chabahar Agreement between Iran, Afghanistan, and India in the port city Tehran. The sources further added that the Indian side at the meeting was led by joint secretary (Pakistain-Afghanistan-Iran) Deepak Mittal of the external affairs ministry, while the Iranian team was led by Mohammad Ali Hassanzadeh, the deputy head of the Ports and Maritime Organisation. "This is a major step forward in India’s efforts to support Afghanistan and also for regional cooperation," an official in New Delhi told Hindustan Times. In the meantime, Iran’s IRNA News has reported that the operation of the port has been handed over to the State-run Ports Global Limited for a period of ten years. This comes as the United States has exempted Chabahar Port development and import of petroleum by Afghanistan from the new sanctions imposed on Iran. A State Department front man told Rooters last month that the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has granted an exception to certain U.S. sanctions that will allow the India-led development of a port in Iran as part of a new transportation corridor designed to boost Afghanistan’s economy. |
| Posted by:Fred |