India and Iran plan a trade lane to Russia through Chabahar

To bolster the trade links with Russia, India and Iran are planning to operationalize the International North-South Trade Corridor (INSTC). To move ahead with this, a trial shipment will be attempted in the next 6 to 8 months wherein the test shipment will navigate through Chabahar Port.

The INSTC was formed in 2001 as a new trade corridor to strengthen economic links among multiple countries like India, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. A trial was conducted in 2014 to check the operations and solve any issues that come across along the corridor. A successful trial resulted in the transit and customs agreement in 2015. Another trial was done in 2022m from Russia to India but it was done via Bandar Abbas port in Iran. However, the new trial proposed is via Chabahar Port, where India operates berths in the Shahid Behesti Terminal.

The Iranian officials also have proposed linking free trade zones between Indian ports and Chabahar to make trade easy between the two countries and the same will be discussed in the meeting between the Indian Ambassador to Iran and Iran port officials. The only hindrance that one can witness in pushing forward INSTC is the strict sanctions that have been imposed by the West on Iran and Russia.

The principal difficulty with pushing the INSTC forward will be the strict sanctions imposed on Iran and Russia by the West.