Chabahar port may open by 2019, says Gadkari

A cargo ship is docked during the inauguration ceremony of the newly built extension in the port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, southeastern Iran, near the Pakistani border on December 3, 2017.

India hopes to make Iran’s Chabahar port operational by 2019, despite the threat of United States’ sanctions against Tehran looming large.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the opening of the port will make countries part of the Commonwealth of Independent States more accessible, according to an official statement.

He was addressing the Indian community at an event at the Indian Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Thursday.

In 2016, India entered into a trilateral treaty with Iran and Afghanistan to develop a new transportation corridor connecting the three countries and other Central Asian Countries, bypassing Pakistan.

Mr. Gadkari’s comments come at a time when the work on the port is expected to be delayed due to the threat of sanctions against Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear treaty with Iran.

The statement also said that the Minister held wide-ranging talks with the Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Muhridin.