Islamabad: Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honerdoost has said that the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan on the strategic Chabahar port is ‘not finished’ and that it is not ‘limited to these three countries’.
Mehdi also said that Pakistan and China are welcome to join it. The offer to cooperate had first been extended to Pakistan and then China, implying neither had expressed interest, he said.
"The deal is not finished. We are waiting for new members. Pakistan, our brotherly neighbours and China, a great partner of the Iranians and a good friend of Pakistan, are both welcome. India was a good friend during the sanctions, the only country to import oil from us during sanctions," Mehdi said here on Friday.
The Iranian ambassador also noted that India-backed Chabahar Port is not a rival to Pakistan's Gwadar Port, which is being modernised by China.
Both are sister ports, and Chabahar Port authorities would extend cooperation to Gwadar, he said.
“The deal is still on the table for both Pakistan and China, assuring that Chabahar is not a rival to Gwadar,” he said.
Earlier this week, a milestone pact on the strategic Chabahar port in southern Iran which will give India access to Afghanistan and Europe bypassing Pakistan was signed by India and Iran. The deal was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden trip to Iran. India will provide $500 million to develop the Chabahar Port in Gulf of Oman on country's southern coast along with Afghanistan in a tripartite agreement.
Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Balochistan Province on the energy-rich Persian Gulf nation's southern coast, lies outside the Persian Gulf and is easily accessed from India's western coast, bypassing Pakistan.
‘Pak may link Gwadar with Chabahar’
Meanwhile, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz has said that the country was considering linking Gwadar with Iranian harbour Chabahar.
Aziz said that Pakistan welcome projects of regional connectivity which have the potential to generate economic activity.
He also hinted at a proposal of declaring Gwadar and Chabahar as ‘sister ports’ and said Pakistan was also constructing a road to the Iranian port being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan.
