Chabahar Port

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Chabahar Port
Chabahar Port logo.png
Location
Country Iran
Location Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan Province
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Details
Opened 1970
Operated by Iran Arya Bandar Iran
India India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL)
Owned by Iran Ports and Maritime Organization
Size of harbor 480 ha (1,200 acres)
Land area 440 ha (1,100 acres)
Available berths 10
Employees 1,000
Director General Siavash Rezvani
Website
chabaharport.pmo.ir

Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chahbahar in southeastern Iran. Its location lies in the Gulf of Oman. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the ocean. It was developed by Iran starting in 1982 and pegged as a "Golden Gate" to the land-locked Central Asian countries and Afghanistan. India joined in the development of the port in 2003 and signed a trilateral agreement in 2016 for a sea-land route between India and Afghanistan via the Chabahar port.

Location

Map of Iran with major cities

The port of Chabahar is located on the Makran coast of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, next to the Gulf of Oman and at the mouth of Strait of Hormuz. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Being close to Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan etc., it has been termed the "Golden Gate" to these land-locked countries.[1]

Chabahar is 700 km away from Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan and Baluchistan province, 950 km away from Milak, the closest city to the Afghan border, and 1827 km away from Sarakhs on the Turkmen border.[1]

The marine distance to Dubai is 353 nautical miles (nm), Karachi in Pakistan is 455 nm, and Mumbai in India is 843 nm.[2] Pakistan's Chinese-funded deep sea port at Gwadar is also on the Makran coast, at a distance of mere 72 km. Gwadar also claims to provide access to Central Asia, and comparisons between the two ports are frequently made by analysts.[3][4][5]

Because 90 percent of Iran's population is concentrated in the western part of the country, the eastern part is relatively less developed. Iran is intending to change that by development around the Chabahar port, with a free trade zone, and road and rail links between Chabahar and Central Asia. Its plan is to use Chabahar port as the gateway to Central Asia and maintain Bandar Abbas as a hub for trade with Russia and Europe.[1]

As opposed to the highly congested Bandar Abbas port inside the Strait of Hormuz, which handles 85% of Iran's seaborne trade, Chabahar is a deep water port. Bandar Abbas is not a deep water port and cannot handle the 250,000 ton ocean-going vessels. At present, such vessels dock in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the cargo is transferred to smaller 100,000 ton ships for onward shipment to Iran. This makes Iran dependent on the UAE for shipments and represents a loss of revenue.[6][7] Unlike Bandar Abbas, Chabahar has the ability to handle standard cargo ships.[7]

History

File:Launch Boat 2.jpg
Boats anchored in Chabahar Bay.

A former port named Tis in Chabahar's neighborhood dates back to 2500 BC, known in Alexander the Great's conquests as Tiz, eventually renamed Tis. Alberuni wrote that the sea coast of India commences with Tiz.[8] The Portuguese forces under Afonso de Albuquerque gained control of Chabahar and Tis, staying there until 1621. The British, and later the Portuguese in the 17th century entered this region.[9]

Modern Chabahar dates back to around 1970, when it was declared a municipality and large port projects were started by order of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Shah planned to construct a $600 million naval base at Chabahar, mostly employing American companies as contractors. The American naval officials held talks with their Iranian counterparts on securing an "option" to operate out of Chabahar in the event of an emergency.[10] However, in 1977, Shah got strapped for cash, caught in a tug of war between the OPEC and the western oil companies over the price of oil, and the start of construction of Chabahar base was postponed. Soon afterwards, the Shah was overthrown in the Iranian revolution.[11]

After the 1979 revolution the foreign companies left the projects and Iranian public companies linked to the Ministry of Jahad-e Sazandegi (or jihad for construction) took them over. The Iraq-Iran war caused Chabahar to gain in logistical and strategic importance. War brought insecurity to the Strait of Hormuz and ships were unable to enter the Persian Gulf. Accordingly, Chabahar became a major port during the war.[citation needed]

The Chabahar port actually contains two seprate ports called Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. Between 1982 and 1983, Iran constructed four 45 meter berths at Shahid Kalantari and four 150 meter berths at Shahid Beheshti.[9][12] During the war between Iran and Iraq (1980–1988), the Iranian government noticed the important role of the port of Chabahar in Iran’s imports and exports, because of its unique characteristics such as being out of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.[13] Two additional births, 235 and 265 meters long, were constructed in 1997 and 2004 respectively.[12]

Iran's international strategy

Consistent with its desire to be seen as a significant regional player, Iran has taken the initiative to engage with all the neighbouring countries to enhance the transit potential of Chabahar. It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Afghanistan and Tajikistan on the construction of railway lines, water pipelines and energy transmission lines. It has been keen to extend the Khvaf-Herat rail line to connect to the railways of Central Asia, Turkey, and Europe. It has entered into an agreement with Oman, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to establish a transport corridor between these countries. It is also a key partner in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) along with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Oman, Syria, India and the Central Asian countries, which aims to connect South and Central Asian countries to Northern Europe via Iran and Russia. Specifically with respect to Chabahar, Iran has envisioned it as a key port in linking India with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. Initiatives in this regard include a roadway from Chabahar to Milak on the Afghanistan border, Chabahar-Faraj-Bam railway, Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad rail link, which will be further extended to Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan and Termez in Uzbekistan.[14]

Iran-India partnership

During the 1990s Iran and India, along with Russia, collaborated in backing the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan against the Pakistan-backed Taliban. At this time, Iran invited India to develop the Chabahar port to obtain ready access to Afghanistan.[15][16] In 1997, a trilateral agreement was signed with Turkmenistan to expand trade into Central Asia and, in 2000, another agreement with Russia to provide seamless transport between India and Europe via an International North-South Transport Corridor.[17]

After the September 11 attacks and the massive American presence in Afghanistan, India, Iran and Afghanistan got together in January 2003, agreeing on a joint development of transportation links to Afghanistan. India agreed to expand the Chabahar port and to lay a railway track between Chabahar and Zaranj. Iran has completed 70 percent of the first phase of the Chabahar project at a cost of $340 million.[18] India has spent $134 million during 2005–2009 to construct a road from Delaram in Afghanistan to Zaranj at the Iran-Afghanistan border.[19] Iran has also built a roadway between Milak, close to Zaranj, and Chabahar passing through Zahedan and Iranshahr. Through Milak, Zaranj and Deleram, connectivity has been established to the the Afghan `garland road', which connects the major Afghan cities Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.[20] In March 2012, ships from India docked at Chabahar carrying 100,000 tonnes of wheat under humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.[21] The Afghan businesses have begun to shift from the Karachi port to Chabahar port for transit.[22]

However, without further development of the Chabahar port, these road links would remain underutilized.[20] Despite intentions, India's involvement in the infrastructure development within Iran has been minimal, possibly due to the western pressure to apply sanctions. Iran is also believed to have a shown a preference for Iranian contractors instead of Indians.[23][24] The initiative was restarted in August 2012 in a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Summit.[23]

In 2015, India agreed to invest $85 million for the second phase of the Chabahar port, converting two existing berths to a container terminal and a multi-purpose cargo terminal. The berths will be leased for 10 years.[6]

May 2016 Agreement between India, Iran, and Afghanistan

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“This is a very, very crucial agreement for Afghanistan. The opening of this corridor will help us to fully reach our potential, give us a new trade route. This is a completely new chapter”.
— Shaida Abdali, Afghan ambassador to India, April 2016.[24]

File:Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends a trilateral Meeting in Iran.jpg
Leaders of India(Modi), Iran(Rouhani) and Afghanistan(Ghani), during the signing of the trilateral transit agreement between the three countries, May 2016.

In May 2016, India signed a series of twelve memorandums of understanding which centered upon the Port of Chabahar.

The trilateral transit agreement signed by India, Iran and Afghanistan allows Indian goods to reach Afghanistan through Iran. It links ports in the western coast of India to the Chabahar port and covers the road and rail links between Chabahar and the Afghan border.[25]

The bilateral agreement between India and Iran gives India the right to develop two berths of the Chabahar port as agreed in 2015 and allows them to be operated for 10 years by India Ports Global, a joint venture between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust, in partnership with Iran's Arya Bandar.[26] The berths will be developed at a a cost of $85 million over the course of 18 months. The investment is supplemented with a $150 million credit line to Iran through the Exim Bank of India.[25][27][28]

India has also offered to supply $400 million worth of steel towards the construction of a rail link between Chahbahar and Zahedan.[29] In total, Indian commitments to Iranian infrastructure total approximately $635 million as per the twelve memoranda of understanding signed in May 2016.[30]

India's IRCON and Iran's Construction, Development of Transport and Infrastructure Company signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the construction and finance of the Chabahar to Zahedan rail line at a cost of $1.6 billion.[31] Were Iran to accept India's offer of assistance in the finance and construction of this rail line, then Indian investment in Iranian infrastructure would be $2.235 billion.[32]

India's minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also stated that Indian companies could potentially invest over ₹1 lakh crore (US$15 billion) in the Chabahar Special Economic zone.[33]

Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Mehdi Honerdoost stated that Pakistan and China had both been invited to contribute to the project before India, but neither China nor Pakistan had expressed interest in joining.[34][35]

Chabahar-Zahedan Railway

In May 2016, a memorandum of understanding was also signed for financing of the planned Chabahar-Zahedan railway,[36] as part of North–South Transport Corridor, by Indian Railway's public sector unit Ircon International.[37]

India has offered to supply $400 million worth of steel towards the construction of of this railway, [38] while India has also offered to finance construction of the Chabahar to Zahedan rail line at a cost of $1.6 billion.[39]

The establishment of the port of Chabahar's connection to the country’s railway plan, is under study and consideration.[citation needed] With the completion of the Kerman–Zahedan railway and its connection to the port of Chabahar, this port will connect to the Trans-Iranian Railway.

Strategic implications

American policy analyst Rory Daniels has characterized the Indian investment in Chabahar as well as the Chinese investment in Gwadar as instances of "strategic encirclement." According to her, China fears encirclement by the US, India by China and Pakistan by India. All of these encirclements are said to be part of "containment strategies."[3]

However, scholar Neil Padukone disagrees that India has a goal of encircling Pakistan.[40] India needs access to iron from Afghanistan's Hajigak mine and other natural resources from the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which is made possible by the Chabahar port. But, in the long run, the pipeline-to-road-to-rail-to-sea-to-road shipment costs through Chabahar should be circumvented by direct transit through Pakistan. So far, Pakistan has been reluctant to provide such access.[41] The US State Department has agreed with this assessment, even though it has cautioned India to remain within the legal parameters with respect to collaboration with Iran.[42] The US also sees the Indian presence in Greater Central Asia beneficial for spreading the soft power of democratic and friendly regimes.[3] India also hopes to see the Western countries use the Chabahar route to link to Afghanistan and reduce their dependence on Pakistan.[43]

Padukone agrees that India has need for establishing a "naval counterweight" to China's presence in Gwadar,[40] as India sees the Gwadar port as a manifestation of a strong China-Pakistan alliance that seeks to choke Indian investments in the Indian Ocean region.[3] Scholar Christophe Jaffrelot states that Gwadar gives the Chinese a key listening post to monitor US and Indian naval activity in the Persian Gulf as well as a dual-use civil-miltary base for Chinese ships and submarines. India perceive a direct threat and its response has been to help build the Chabahar port.[4]

As per the Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, Afghan goods can be transited across Pakistan for export to India as well, though Indian goods cannot be exported to Afghanistan via Pakistan.[44] Upon completion of Chabahar, Indian exporters will benefit from the potential ability to export goods to Afghanistan, a country with an annual gross domestic product estimated at $60.6 billion.[45]

While agreements have specifically cited improvements for Afghan connectivity to the world as a benefit of Indian investment in the region,[46] Afghanistan's politically instability could limit the potential usefulness of transit corridors to population centers near Kabul or Kandahar, as those routes traverse southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban is most active.[47]

Climate

In general, the port of Chabahar is located in an area that has warm and humid summers and moderate winters.

Climate data for Chabahar (1963–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 31.0
(87.8)		 33.0
(91.4)		 38.0
(100.4)		 42.0
(107.6)		 46.0
(114.8)		 45.2
(113.4)		 47.0
(116.6)		 42.4
(108.3)		 42.0
(107.6)		 41.4
(106.5)		 37.0
(98.6)		 32.0
(89.6)		 47.0
(116.6)
Average high °C (°F) 24.3
(75.7)		 25.1
(77.2)		 27.7
(81.9)		 30.7
(87.3)		 33.5
(92.3)		 34.4
(93.9)		 33.2
(91.8)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.8
(89.2)		 32.0
(89.6)		 29.4
(84.9)		 26.3
(79.3)		 30.0
(86)
Daily mean °C (°F) 19.9
(67.8)		 20.9
(69.6)		 23.6
(74.5)		 26.8
(80.2)		 29.8
(85.6)		 31.4
(88.5)		 30.8
(87.4)		 29.5
(85.1)		 28.8
(83.8)		 27.6
(81.7)		 24.5
(76.1)		 21.6
(70.9)		 26.3
(79.3)
Average low °C (°F) 15.5
(59.9)		 16.8
(62.2)		 19.6
(67.3)		 22.9
(73.2)		 26.0
(78.8)		 28.3
(82.9)		 28.3
(82.9)		 27.1
(80.8)		 25.8
(78.4)		 23.2
(73.8)		 19.6
(67.3)		 16.8
(62.2)		 22.5
(72.5)
Record low °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6)		 7.0
(44.6)		 9.6
(49.3)		 14.0
(57.2)		 16.0
(60.8)		 22.0
(71.6)		 21.0
(69.8)		 19.0
(66.2)		 19.0
(66.2)		 13.2
(55.8)		 9.0
(48.2)		 7.0
(44.6)		 7.0
(44.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 33.6
(1.323)		 23.4
(0.921)		 16.0
(0.63)		 3.4
(0.134)		 0.0
(0)		 6.2
(0.244)		 4.8
(0.189)		 1.8
(0.071)		 0.8
(0.031)		 3.7
(0.146)		 5.1
(0.201)		 19.2
(0.756)		 118.0
(4.646)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 2.8 2.0 1.4 0.5 0.0 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.4 10.1
Average relative humidity (%) 62 68 72 73 75 78 79 80 78 75 68 63 72
Mean monthly sunshine hours 244.9 236.8 255.5 279.1 320.4 271.3 219.3 225.5 253.5 289.3 272.2 253.8 3,120.6
Source: Iran Meteorological Organization (records),[48] (temperatures),[49] (precipitation),[50] (humidity),[51] (days with precipitation),[52]

(sunshine)[53]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Meena Singh Roy 2012, p. 958.
  2. ↑ Chabahar Port 2013, p. 11.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Christophe Jaffrelot, A tale of two ports, Yale Global Online, 7 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Pir-Mohammad Mollazehi, The Coast of Makran: An Arena for Rivalry among Powers, Iran Review, 28 May 2016.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Alberuni's India: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about A.D. 1030, by Edward C. Sachau Published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1910, p. 208
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 History, Chabahar Port, Ports and Maritime Organization. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  10. ↑ Cooper 2011, p. 168.
  11. ↑ Cooper 2011, pp. 368-369.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chabahar Port 2013, p. 6.
  13. ↑ Chabahar Port: The New Kingmaker for Indian Ocean Trade, Asian Warrior, 2015.
  14. ↑ Bhatnagar & John 2013, pp. 3-4.
  15. ↑ Iran and India seek to revive Afghan alliance, The Telegraph, 11 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Behuria & Rizvi 2015, p. 4.
  17. ↑ Cheema 2014, p. 23.
  18. ↑ Bhatnagar & John 2013, p. 3.
  19. ↑ Chabahar port: India, Iran, Afghanistan to set up group, Indian Express, 27 August 2012.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Behuria & Rizvi 2015, p. 5.
  21. ↑ Bhatnagar & John 2013, p. 2.
  22. ↑ Cheema 2014, p. 34.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Bhatnagar & John 2013, p. 5.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Devirupa Mitra, With Chabahar Text Finalised, India’s Dream of a Road to Afghanistan Gathers Speed, The Wire, 13 April 2016.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Sumitha Narayanan Kutty, India Cements Role in Iran with Chabahar Deal, LobeLog Foreign Policy, 23 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Arya Banader
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ $400 million steel + $85 million for development of port, and $150 line of credit.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ $635million tallied above + $1.6 billion for this project
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ India-Iran sign key agreements, Published: 23 May 2016
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Padukone 2014, p. 163.
  41. ↑ Padukone 2014, p. 173.
  42. ↑ Watching India—Iran ties ‘very closely’: U.S., The Hindu, 25 May 2016.
  43. ↑ Padukone 2014, p. 129.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  49. ↑
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    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

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External links

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