Afghanistan: Afghanistan trade organisation has cautioned that US sanctions on Iran could affect Indo-Afghan trade via Chabahar port.
Following the new US sanctions on Iran, a number of investors have become reluctant in starting business and doing trade and transit through Chabahar port, Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) Atiqullah Nusrat said.
The ACCI said the country needs Chabahar port to increase its trade and transit ties with India and that more privileges should be given to Afghanistan in this respect. In an interview with TOLO news, Jeffery Grieco, CEO of the AACC, said Chabahar port can play a vital for in expansion of Kabul-New Delhi trade and transit ties, but the new sanctions by the United States on Iran, which will affect trade and transit at the port, is a political issue.
“There is a political side to the Chabahar port development and then there is a commercial side. We do not get involved in the political side that is based on the policies set by the United States,” said Grieco.
The Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) have stressed the need for expansion of trade and transit relations between Afghanistan and India, saying it will help in economic growth of both nations.
According to investors and economic analysts, Afghanistan and India can boost trade and transit ties easily through Chabahar port. India is proposed to invest $500 million in the project. The agreement signed between India and Iran equips India to operate two berths in Chabahar Port,were in the Phase-I with capital investment of $85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of $22.95 million on a 10-year lease.
The first phase of the Chabahar port was inaugurated in December 2017 by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, opening a new strategic route connecting Iran, India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan. (UNI)
