International North-South Transport Corridor and Chabahar Port : Must-know for UPSC Exam

Indian Express

17-06-2025

Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget for today on International North South Transport Corridor and Chabahar port.
(Relevance: Regional connectivity projects are an important part of the UPSC CSE syllabus. INSTC and Chabahar port have been in the news, and UPSC has previously asked questions on these projects; for instance, a question was asked on INSTC in prelims this year, and in prelims 2017, a question was asked on Chabahar port (do check it in the post-read questions); thus, it becomes essential to know about these projects.)
The Israel-Iran conflict entered its fourth day on Monday with fresh missile exchanges. The recent escalation in Israel-Iran conflict has triggered serious concern among major stakeholders in the region, including India. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement urging both nations to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation.
Notably, a potential regional conflagration puts India's regional connectivity strategy like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, the International North South Transport Corridor, and the Chabahar port at risk. Trade and commerce, energy imports, and Indian expatriates are other vital concerns for New Delhi. In this context, let's know about the International North South Transport Corridor and Chabahar port.
1. The International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which was initiated by Russia, India, and Iran, is a multi-modal transportation project linking the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and onward to northern Europe via St Petersburg in Russia.
2. This corridor aims to reduce transit times to about 25 days — 20 days fewer than the Suez Canal route — and cut freight costs by 30 per cent.
3. The INSTC envisages the movement of goods from Mumbai to Bandar Abbas in Iran by sea; from Bandar Abbas to Bandar-e-Anzali, an Iranian port on the Caspian Sea, by road; from Bandar-e-Anzali to Astrakhan, a Caspian port in the Russian Federation by ship across the Caspian Sea; and onward to other parts of the Russian Federation and Europe by rail.
1. Chabahar is a deep water port in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan province. It is the Iranian port that is the closest to India, and is located in the open sea, providing easy and secure access for large cargo ships. The port is also part of the proposed International North-South Transport Corridor.
2. Chabahar is of strategic importance for India. It offers New Delhi an alternative route that bypasses Pakistan, which does not allow India land access for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia.
3. Modern Chabahar came into being in the 1970s, and Tehran realised the strategic importance of the port during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
4. In 2002, Hassan Rouhani, who was Iran's National Security Advisor under President Syed Mohammad Khatami at the time, held discussions with his Indian counterpart Brajesh Mishra on developing the port, located 72 km west of Pakistan's Gwadar port.
5. In January 2003, President Khatami and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed off on an ambitious roadmap of strategic cooperation. Among the key projects the two countries agreed on was Chabahar, which held the potential to link South Asia with the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Europe.
6. India, Iran, and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement in April 2016, after which the Indian Shipping Ministry worked at a rapid pace towards developing the port.
7. The attitude of the Donald Trump administration towards Iran complicated matters after 2017, but South Block appeared determined to stay the course. New Delhi managed to get a waiver from the US for the Chabahar project, citing access to Afghanistan as a reason.
8. Later, in August 2023, Prime Minister Modi met with President Ebrahim Raisi in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, and discussed the pending long-term contract on Chabahar. The two leaders gave a clear political direction to finalise and sign the long-term contract.
9. Notably, on May 13 last year, India and Iran signed a 10-year contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar. The long-term agreement was signed by Indian Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) and the Port & Maritime Organisation of Iran.
10. With the operationalisation of the long-term investment, Chabahar could potentially become an important hub to connect India with the landlocked countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan. However, to better realise its commercial and strategic potential, the development of the port must be integrated with the International North South Transport Corridor.
1. The IMEC is a landmark project announced during the G20 Leaders' event in New Delhi in 2023. It was aimed at stimulating economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
2. It will have two separate corridors, the east corridor connecting India to the Arabian Gulf and the northern corridor connecting the Arabian Gulf to Europe, along with a railway route for supplementing trade exchanges between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe.
3. India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, France, Germany, Italy, the European Union and the United States signed an MoU for its development, linked to the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII). First announced in June 2021 during the G7 (or Group of Seven) summit in the UK, the PGII has been billed as an alternative funding source to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) without directly mentioning it.
4. In addition to the signatories to the MoU, Israel and Greece are two important nodal sites in IMEC who have expressed interest in joining the project.
POST READ QUESTIONS
(1) What is the importance of developing Chabahar Port by India? (UPSC CSE 2017)
(a) India's trade with African countries will increase enormously.
(b) India's relations with oil-producing Arab countries will be strengthened.
(c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
(d) Pakistan will facilitate and protect the installation of a gas pipeline between Iraq and India.
(2) India is one of the founding members of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal transportation corridor, which will connect: (UPSC CSE 2025)
(a) India to Central Asia to Europe via Iran
(b) India to Central Asia via China
(c) India to South-East Asia through Bangladesh and Myanmar
(d) India to Europe through Azerbaijan
(Sources: What are India's stakes in Iran's Chabahar port?, India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: Significance and Prospects for India,This Word Means: IMEC)
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Roshni Yadav is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She is an alumna of the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she pursued her graduation and post-graduation in Political Science. She has over five years of work experience in ed-tech and media. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. Her interests lie in national and international affairs, governance, economy, and social issues. You can contact her via email: [e-mail] ... Read More