TEHRAN – India’s first consignment of rice to Afghanistan which is due to be delivered through India-Iran-Afghanistan trade route, arrived at Chabahar Port, IRNA reported on Saturday, quoting a deputy with Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI).

According to ACCI First Vice President Khan Jan Alokozay, the 500-million-ton cargo is the first of its kind and more shipments will be following in the near future.

India launched a trade route to Afghanistan via Iran through shipping its first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan on October 29, bypassing longtime rival Pakistan. 

Also in February, the Afghanistan-Iran-India trade corridor in which Afghanistan will export goods to India through Iran’s southeastern Chabahar Port was inaugurated.

Afghanistan's first 570-ton export cargo included 200 tons of grains and 370 tons of talc stone which was arrived in Chabahar port late February.

Afghanistan is planning to boost is exports revenue to $2 billion this year and according to Afghan officials, a significant share of the country’s exports will be through Iran’s Chabahar Port.

In 2016, Iran, India and Afghanistan decided to jointly establish a trade route for land-locked Central Asian countries.

India has committed $500 million to Chabahar Port development as a way to bypass rival Pakistan and crack open a trade and transport route to landlocked Afghanistan, as well as the resource-rich countries of central Asia.

The country is expanding its economic diplomacy in Afghanistan, seeing itself as a regional power so it has framed its involvement in Chabahar’s development as primarily about establishing a gateway to Afghanistan, more than Iran itself, Indian officials and a Western diplomatic source said.
EF/MA