15.12.21
Ali Akbar Safai, Managing Director of Iran's Port and Maritime Organization, said that Iran welcomes Uzbekistan's readiness to use the capacities of the Iranian port of Chabahar, Mehr news agency reported on December 15.
Ali Akbar Safai announced this on December 14 during a virtual meeting of the trilateral group, which consisted of representatives of Iran, India and Uzbekistan. “The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the readiness of the government of Uzbekistan to use the capacity of the port of Chabahar and its plan to promote trade and investment in the port of Shahid Beheshti [in Chabahar] ... After Uzbekistan joins the Memorandum of Understanding of Chabahar, in the near future we will see an easier transit between India, Iran and Uzbekistan ... Over the past few years, with the implementation of the Chabahar Memorandum, the activity in the Shahid Beheshti port has increased significantly, and we hope that with the full cooperation of India, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, activity in the Chabahar Port will increase even more, '-quoted by Ali Akbar Safai.
Deputy Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India noted that the Chabahar agreement between Iran, India and Afghanistan provided Afghanistan with access to the sea and laid the foundation for the development of the port of Chabahar in Iran. The Indian official added that in recent years, the port of Chabahar has become a regional transit hub, providing a more economical and stable route connecting India with Central Asian countries. The Indian side also called for the creation of a mechanism that would allow Uzbekistan to connect to Chabahar for the transit of goods, which would provide other Central Asian countries with access to the Iranian port.
The representative of Uzbekistan, for his part, said that the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and India has increased significantly over the past year. In his opinion, the port of Chabahar can play an important role in facilitating transportation and logistics between the countries of the region. The Uzbek official also said that the Uzbek delegation will visit the port of Chabahar in the near future.
