Afghanistan sends first export consignment to India from Chabahar port

  1. Afghanistan has began exports to India through the Chabahar Port.
  2. In 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan inked a pact which included establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as one of the regional hubs for sea transportation in Iran, besides multi-modal transport of goods and passengers across the three nations.
  3. The cargo movement at Chabahar will be under the provisions of Transports Internationaux Routiers(TIR) Convention.The Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets, 1975 (TIR Convention), is an international transit system under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to facilitate the seamless movement of goods within and amongst the Parties to the Convention.
  4. U.S. government had granted an exception to certain U.S. sanctions on Iran  that allowed development of Chabahar port as part of a new transportation corridor designed to boost Afghanistan’s economy.
  5. The new route will supplement the air freight corridors established since 2017.Currently, Afghanistan has a trade surplus with India as exports were worth $740 million last year.