Japan aid for Aghanistan's Chabahar access

NEW DELHI: Japan and India are finally moving to fructify their partnership for development of the Chabahar port in Iran with Tokyo committing investment to help improve Afghanistan's access to the port.
Afghanistan confirmed Japan's pledge to develop access for Chabahar after a visit last week by Japan's state minister for foreign affairs Kentaro Sonoura. India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement last year in May for establishing transport and transit corridors for the strategically located port in Iran.

“This is significant as it reiterates Japan's interest in the Chabahar project and also its support to it,'' India's ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra told TOI.

PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe last year discussed prospects for cooperation between India and Japan for promoting peace and prosperity in South Asia and neighbouring region through both bilateral and trilateral cooperation. Indian and Japanese officials are together working out details for development of infrastructure and connectivity for Chabahar.

Japan's interest in Chaba har is important for India as it can help New Delhi in ensuring time-bound implementation of its commitment to develop the port, seen as a counterbalance to the China's Gwadar port barely 75 km away in Pakistan.

As part of the $ 46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Gwadar is fast developing as an economic hub but India has been concerned about Beijing getting operational control of the port located in Pakistan's Balochistan province. China recently sent two patrol vessels to Gwadar as part of its “normal military trade cooperation'' with Pakistan.

India believes that a “multi-cornered'' cooperation on connectivity will provide Afghanistan an assured and alternative access to regional markets, contributing to development, peace and stability in the country.As India and Iran noted in a joint statement last year, Afghanistan is looking forward to early delineation of all necessary rules and procedures leading to operationalisation of the transport and transit routes within the time-lines stipulated in the tripartite agreement.

As the government has noted earlier, participation in the Chabahar port development will provide India an alternative and reliable access route into Afghanistan utilizing its earlier investment in Zaranj-Delaram road built in Afghanistan. It will also provide more direct sea-road access route into Central Asian Region. Chabahar Port's location at the Arabian Sea means that it would be able to skirt any challenge posed by developments in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.