India-Uzbekistan agree to use Chabahar trade route
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Nwe Delhi, Jul 29: As part of ongoing negotiations, India and Uzbekistan have agreed to do a pilot container cargo shipment from Tashkent to India, using a hybrid land-sea route via Iran’s Chabahar Port. Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal met Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and minister of investment & foreign trade, Jamshid Khodjaev to finalize the agreement.
“Both India & Uzbekistan agreed that this new vista may unlock future possibilities of a Trans Caspian Multi-Modal Transit Corridor between the Central Asia and South Asia regions,” a ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways document said. The shipment will reach India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai.
The shipment is expected to be executed in the next 15-20 days, an official in the know of the matter said. This will not only open up new opportunities for trade but also strengthen the trading viability between the Central Asian and South Asian markets, Sonowal said after the meeting. Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, talks of augmenting trade via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) have gained momentum. The route, which hinges on Iran’s Chabahar Port as a key pillar, is India’s bid for faster and smoother trade with Russia, Europe, and Central Asian economies. Uzbekistan’s deputy PM Khodjaev is on a visit to India to meet commerce minister Piyush Goyal for a session of the Intergovernmental Commission, with a focus on agriculture, textiles, and leather, among others. Khodjaev also met the Union agriculture minister Narendra Tomar on Thursday. The two countries aim to increase their bilateral trade by over two times to over $1 billion. However, connectivity has been an issue, which they hope to resolve via the Iranian port. In 2018, Chabahar Port was acquired by India Ports Global Ltd through its subsidiary India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ). The Chabahar Port, once connected through all-weather highways on the INSTC route, is India’s chance to increase trade in central Asia, which the Centre expects has an eight-fold potential against the current $678 million, according to reports.
Meanwhile, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar is also visiting the Uzbek capital before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country in September. The two governments are also exploring trade opportunities in traditional medicine. The Ministry of AYUSH will send a team of professionals to Uzbekistan to support creating a roadmap to rejuvenate & develop their traditional medicinal practices.