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| Afghanistan |
| India Speeding Up Work On Afghan-Iran Highway |
| 2006-07-21 |
| New Delhi is likely to send reinforcements to accelerate the work of constructing a network of roads linking Afghanistan with Iran. They will supplement the Border Roads Organization personnel working there, according to well-placed sources tracking India's involvement in the region. The reinforcements in significant numbers will go towards an additional section of road that India is expected to build. This will be in addition to some of the projects which the Indian agencies, like the BRO, are already undertaking on the outskirts of Kabul, Asian Age reported here quoting sources. The decision to despatch engineers and other personnel comes despite New Delhi suffering reversals of the killings of Indian personnel working in Afghanistan. India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2003 to augment Afghanistan's connectivity and access to the coast. The BRO is constructing the 218-km road that will link Delaram on the main Kandahar-Herat highway in Afghanistan and Zaranj on the Iran border. The US $850 million project is being funded by India and will provide the landlocked nation a shorter transit route (by about 700 km) to the sea via the Iranian port of Chahbahar than it now has through Pakistan. It was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security on February 4, 2004. Under this project, Iran is building a new transit route to connect Milak in the southeast of Iran to Zaranj in Afghanistan. The sources said India would be able to use Chahbahar port for transit. India and Iran have also agreed to build a railroad from Chahbahar to the Iranian Central Railway System to link with the Karachi-Tehran Railway line, which goes further westward, the sources added. During Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's visit to India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged an additional $50 million in assistance to Kabul, bringing the total Indian pledge to $650 million. Several Indian companies are engaged in Afghanistan and undertaking infrastructure projects. The Czars were always very careful to never build good roads from eastern Europe to Russia. You never know who might end up using them. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 The better to feed the drugs habit of Iran's youth. Win-win! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-21 23:44 |
| #1 India Speeding Up Work On Afghan- |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-21 18:24 |