KABUL : Analysts believe the Chabahar port in Iran has great importance for Afghanistan and the Afghan government should pay attention to related infrastructure to benefit from the port and take necessary security measures on the Zaranj-Dilaram route.
A lecturer at Kardan University, Qais Mohammadi, who is also a member of Mahmud Tarzi Think Tank, told a press conference here that Afghan trucks would not face problems on the border and would not be asked for unnecessary documents on their way to the port and Afghan products would easily reach Indian markets.
“Chabahar can become a regional and international port,” he said, adding Afghan traders had to face different restrictions while importing and exporting their goods through Pakistani ports.
He asked Afghanistan to fully utilise the Iranian port and facilitate investment in the country, pay attention to related infrastructure and keep security on the Zaranj-Dilaram road for Indian goods to central Asian countries.
Another member of the foundation, Bakht Mohammad Bakhtyar, said benefiting from the Chabahar port would not only be useful for economic development, but would also help improve political and security in Afghanistan.
He said the recently signed trilateral agreement among Afghanistan, Iran and India on the port would increase India’s and Iran’s cooperation with Afghanistan in maintaining peace, countering terrorism and fighting drugs.
“If the route is properly managed, it would help the three countries understand each other and boost trust among them and that would result into more development and prosperity,” he said.
He asked the Afghan government to keep security of the route and pay attention to the establishment of needed infrastructure along the road.
Another member of the foundation, Sher Ali Nazari, who is also economic analyst at the Afghanistan Academy of Sciences, said after benefiting from Chabahar, Pakistan would not be able to use its ports as pressure tools against Afghanistan.
