Tehran, 23 May 2016 - The trilateral transit agreement signed by the President of Afghanistan, Prime Minister of India and President of Iran. This agreement allows Indian goods to reach Afghanistan through Iran. It links ports in the western coast of India to the Chabahar port and covers the road and rail links between Chabahar and the Afghanistan border (Zaranj).
At the opening of the signing ceremony, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said that the Chabahar partnership was only the beginning. "Our will starts from Chabahar today, but its end will be an all-out comprehensive development and economic-cultural cooperation," said President Ghani.
"The agreement can change the course of history in this region," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during his visit to Tehran.
The accord, which calls for joint investments, will significantly boost the role of the under-tapped port of Chabahar. Once the project is realised, it will connect India to Afghanistan and central Asia, while Kabul will get an alternate route to the Indian Ocean.
"Today is an important and historical day of development of relations between the three countries," Rouhani said in a televised speech, seated between the two other leaders.
Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar and located in southeastern Iran on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Behest, each of which have five berths.