NEW DELHI: Iran and China have finalised a $400 billion strategic
partnership deal, and a significant political casualty is the Chabahar to
Zahedan rail project with India, which Iran has called off citing delayed
finances, The Hindu reported on Tuesday.
It
said Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami last week
inaugurated the track-laying process for the 628km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which
will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan.
The
development comes as China finalises a massive 25-year, $400bn strategic
partnership deal with Iran, which, the paper said, could cloud India’s plans.
Officials
told The Hindu that the
entire project would be completed by March 2022, and that Iranian Railways
would proceed without India’s assistance four years after they signed the
agreement.
Iran would instead use approximately $400 million from the Iranian
National Development Fund. It was not clear if the unnamed officials were
Indian, Iranian or some other.
The Hindu cited
“leaked versions” of the 18-page “Comprehensive Plan for Cooperation between
Iran and China”, being finalised by officials in Tehran and Beijing. The cooperation
will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading
energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries and other
installations, and will commit Iranian oil and gas supplies to China during
that period.
The
newspaper quoted Iranian officials as denying a report that also suggested
Chabahar port would be leased to China. However, according to The Hindu, Iran proposed a tie-up between the
Chinese-run port at Gwadar and Chabahar last year, and has offered interests to
China in the Bandar-e-Jask port 350km away from Chabahar, as well as in the
Chabahar duty free zone.
The
railway project, which was being discussed between the Iranian Railways and the
state-owned Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON), was meant to be part of
India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and
Afghanistan to build an alternative trade route to Afghanistan and Central
Asia.
In
May 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran to sign the
Chabahar agreement with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani, IRCON had signed an MoU with the Iranian rail ministry.
The
MoU was to construct the Chabahar-Zahedan railway as “part of transit and
transportation corridor in trilateral agreement between India, Iran and
Afghanistan”. IRCON had promised to provide all services and financing for the
project (around $1.6bn).
However,
despite several site visits by IRCON engineers, and preparations by Iranian
Railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these
could attract US sanctions. The US had provided a sanctions waiver for the
Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find
equipment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the
US, said officials. India has already “zeroed out” its oil imports from Iran
due to the sanctions.
India’s
Ministry of External Affairs and IRCON declined to comment on the issue, The
Hindu said.
