Iran, India, Afghanistan contract open to more participants
An economic contract that was recently signed among Iran, India, and Afghanistan is open for more countries to join, according to Jalil Salami, an Iranian shipping and ports official.
The contract included three cooperation documents to promote ports and shipping activities in Iran especially around Chabahar Port, the official told Mehr news agency.
He explained that one of the documents is about Indian investment in Chabahar Port. Accordingly, India will bring a fund of $85 million for procuring container facilities for Beheshti Port Phase 1, situated in Chabahar.
The contract is a BOT (build-operate-transfer) deal, according to which the Indian operator will operate the project for 10 years jointly with the Iranian Shipping Company, the official said.
The second document concerns an investment of $150 million by an Indian bank in shipping and port projects in Iran, Salami stated.
The third document, he added, concerns promoting sea transportation among the three countries with Chabahar as the hub.
The concluded by saying that for the agreements to be put into action, the executive measures should be first defined and then a secretariat be launched to handle the affairs.
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