Iran Warns India against Delaying Chabahar Port Investment
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran has warned that India will lose out on the country’s economic projects, including Chabahar port, if it further postpones the payment of its investment share, a report said.
“A number of economic projects with Iran are required to be implemented at the earliest. The Iranian government has stressed to us at high levels the urgency to extend the necessary financial support for these projects without further delay,” India’s Foreign Ministry informed the South Asian country's relevant ministries in a recent statement, The Indian Express reported on Wednesday.
The statement urged the ministries to speed up the lines of credit under consideration as well as alter the existing payment mechanism for crude oil imports.
“Separately, the lifting of sanctions will require modifications in the existing arrangements for payment for India’s oil imports from Iran,” it said.
The agreement would need to be amended to allow Iranians to collect their entire payment in dollars as the existing one allows 45 percent of the dues to be paid in rupees.
Based on a preliminary agreement signed between the two countries last May, India will invest $85 million over the construction of two berths at Chabahar port which is located in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-and-Baluchestan province.
Chabahar is the closest and best access point of Iran to the Indian Ocean and Iran has devised serious plans to turn it into a transit hub for immediate access to markets in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia.
