Ali Akbar Safaei, Director General of Ports and Maritime
Organization (PMO), made the remarks in the 2nd trilateral meeting of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, India and Uzbekistan, which was held via
video-conferencing.
Tashkent has already shown its interest to join India and
Iran to promote connectivity through the Chabahar port in the southwest of
Iran, as part of the country’s efforts to improve and diversify access to sea
routes for trade.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the approach of
the Government of Uzbekistan to use the capacity of the Chabahar port and its
plan to develop trade and investment in the port of Shahid Beheshti [in
Chbahar]," Safaei said during the online meeting.
"After Uzbekistan joins the Chabahar Memorandum of
Understanding, we will see the facilitation of transit between India, Iran and
Uzbekistan in the near future," he further said.
"Over the past few years, with the implementation of
the Chabahar Memorandum, the activities at Shahid Beheshti Port has increased
significantly, and we hope that with the full cooperation of India, Iran,
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, the activity at
Chabahar Port will further increase," the PMO director-general also said.
The Deputy Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of
India, in turn, said that the Chabahar Agreement between Iran, India and
Afghanistan gave Afghanistan access to the sea and laid the ground for the
development of the Chabahar port in Iran.
The Chabahar port has become a regional transit hub in
recent years, providing a more economical and stable route to connect India to
Central Asian countries, the Indian official added.
The Indian side further called for creating a mechanism that
allows Uzbekistan to connect to Chabahar for the transit of goods, thus giving
other Central Asian countries access to the Iranian port.
Uzbekistan's representative in the virtual meeting pointed
out that India, Iran and Uzbekistan have a lot in common in terms of history
and culture, adding that trade between the three countries has always been
going on for a long time.
He stressed that the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and
India has increased significantly over the past year, adding that the Chabahar
port can play an important role in facilitating transportation and logistics
between countries in the region.
The Uzbek official further announced that an Uzbek
delegation would visit the Chabahar port in the near future.