Why it is in news?

• India began shipment of wheat to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chabahar.
• The consignment would be the first to use the new route via Chabahar to access Afghanistan, even as India plans similar transfers in the coming months. 

A landmark step

• It will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternative, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan.
• It will open up new opportunities for trade and transit from and to Afghanistan and enhance trade and commerce between the three countries (India, Iran and Afghanistan) and the wider region
• The transfer was part of India’s commitment to send 1.1 million tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan on grant basis.
• It pledged that Kabul will receive the entire amount in six different instalments over the coming months.
• The move is significant as it indicates India remains firm in delivering on its regional commitment through partnership with Iran, despite Tehran’s ongoing tension with the United States.

GEO STRATEGIC PUSH

Chabahar port

• The use of Chabahar for wheat transhipment indicates the firming up of an alternative route to extend necessary support to Afghanistan, in the absence of overland transit rights by Pakistan.
• The move also indicates that Chahbahar that India has been developing for some years, will soon be fully operational.
• India had earlier sent goods through the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in 2003 as Pakistan had not eased land access to Afghanistan.
• The two foreign ministers welcomed the fact that this is the first shipment that would be going to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port after Trilateral Agreement on Establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor was signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Iran in May 2016