Tashkent, Uzbekistan: India is planning to give a major thrust on a mega connectivity plan for Eurasia at the upcoming summit meeting of the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), with Iran’s Chabahar port being one of the major focal points, said Manish Prabhat, India’s ambassador to Uzbekistan.
In an interview to ThePrint, Prabhat said India, which is going to take over the chairmanship of SCO from Uzbekistan in this summit, is likely to push not just the Chabahar Port project, but also the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Besides, India has also been making efforts to ensure that within the Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan plays a key role with India, Iran and Russia in the promotion and operationalisation of the Chabahar project as well as the INSTC, the envoy said.
India has been giving a massive thrust to making the Chabahar Port project and the INSTC the main focal points when it comes to inclusive and mega connectivity between Eurasia and South Asia, because New Delhi wants this to become a rival to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As a result, within the SCO too an India-China rivalry can be seen in terms of enhancing connectivity and transforming them into mega trade routes.
“PM Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan (for the SCO Summit) shows the importance India attaches to its strategic partner Uzbekistan. On a broader perspective, it also shows that India attaches a great deal of importance to its relationship with all the Central Asian countries. What happens in Central Asia should remain the core concern of the SCO. Central Asia is important for SCO,” Prabhat told ThePrint.
The SCO Summit will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan between 15 and 16 September. In addition to Modi and all Central Asian leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are expected to attend it.
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‘Uzbekistan supportive of Chabahar project’
“India has always promoted Chabahar Port. We have requested all our partners in Central Asia and also Uzbekistan that we should prioritise Chabahar and Chabahar should become the hub of connectivity between India and Central Asia,” said Prabhat.
He added: “Of course there are other kinds of connectivity being pursued by other countries. But Uzbekistan is supportive of the Chabahar initiative. It was Uzbekistan which took the initiative to call for the trilateral meeting among India, Iran and Uzbekistan and how we can promote greater usage of this port. Two rounds of meetings have already taken place. In the next round, countries plan to invite other partners also.”
The trilateral meeting between India, Iran and Uzbekistan on the joint use of Chabahar Port was held in December 2020, followed by the second meeting in December 2021, where it was decided that the third round will be held in India.
“On top of all these, there’s an added initiative of INSTC, which India has been pursuing with Iran and Russia for a very long time. And India has invited Uzbekistan to become part of the INSTC also and India has also proposed including Chabahar as part of the INSTC. It will then become a focal point in the entire INSTC and once that happens all partner countries will benefit a lot,” said the Indian ambassador.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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