Don’t tell the Iran hawks in D.C., isolating Iran won’t work. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi this week and the two signed a multitude of agreements.
The most important of which is India’s leasing of part of the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman. This deal further strengthens India’s ability to access central Asian markets while bypassing the Pakistani port at Gwadar, now under renovation by China as part of CPEC – China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
CPEC is part of China’s far bigger One Belt, One Road Initiative (OBOR), its ambitious plan to link the Far East with Western Europe and everyone else in between. OBOR has dozens of moving parts with its current focus on upgrading the transport infrastructure of India’s rival Pakistan while Russia works with Iran on upgrading its rail lines across its vast central plateaus as well as those moving south into Iran.
India is investing in Iran’s rails starting at Chabahar and moving north.
Just Part of the Much-Needed Rail Upgrade Iran Needs to Connect it to India
Chabahar has long been a development goal for Russia, Iran and India. The North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) was put on paper way back when Putin first took office (2002). And various parts of it have been completed. The full rail route linking Chabahar into the rest of Iran’s rail network, however, has not been completed.
The first leg, to the eastern city of Zahedan is complete and the next leg will take it to Mashhad, near the Turkmenistan border. These two cities are crucial to India finding ways into Central Asia while not looking like they are partaking in OBOR.
Also, from Zahedan, work can now start on the 160+ mile line to Zaranj,…