New Delhi: Even as the US has still not given a clear sign of a waiver, India, along with Iran and Afghanistan, have triggered the relevant clauses of the 2016 Chabahar agreement to a follow-up committee to finalise the draft protocol required harmonise standards and customs to “fully operationalise” the strategic Iranian port.
This was decided at the first trilateral meeting of the Coordination Council of the Chabahar agreement that took place in Tehran on Tuesday, October 23.
According to a press release from the ministry of external affairs, “detailed discussions were held between the three sides on full operationalisation of the trilateral Agreement for international transit and transport through Chabahar Port”.
“All sides shared the view that full operationalisation of trilateral Chabahar initiative will promote connectivity and economic development of Afghanistan and the region,” it added.
The commitment to “full operationalisation” was given by the three countries in the background of the looming deadline of renewed US sanctions against Iran.
Last month, senior State department official had said that they understood the importance of Chabahar in India’s strategic calculations in the region.
“We very much appreciate what India has done to provide both assistance to Afghanistan, including through using Chabahar Port for the delivery of wheat. We also very much appreciate what India has done to allow Afghanistan to diversify its trade relationships, and again Chabahar has played a role there. So those factors will certainly be taken under consideration,” principal deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of South and Central Asia region Alice Wells told PTI in September.
However, there has still not been any clear green signal from US that there will be a ‘carve-out’ for Chabahar from the sanction regime.
For India, Chabahar is not just a conduit to Afghanistan, but also to the central Asia region and beyond.
The MEA press release noted that Indian delegation, led by MEA’s Secretary (Economic Relations) T.S. Tirumurti, presented a draft protocol for harmonising soft infrastructure that will make the “route attractive, decrease logistic costs and pave the way for smooth implementation of the Trilateral Chabahar Agreement”.
The follow-up committee would hold its meeting before the end of this year to “discuss and aim to finalise” the protocol to harmonise transit, roads, customs and consular matters. This is as per article 10 of the 2016 Chabahar agreement, which states that the follow-up committee should be at the level of director general or joint secretary.
Iranian news agency, Tasnim News reported that the Iranian side “put forward some suggestions to his Indian and Afghan counterparts, including ways to tap the potential of various transit corridors of the region, especially the north-south corridor, and facilitate and accelerate easy and safe access to the transit routes”.
The next meeting of the Coordination Council will be held in the first half of 2019 in India.