Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine signed a memorandum of understanding on implementing the International North-South Transport Corridor project in a meeting in Azeri capital Baku on Tuesday.
The INSTC is a ship, rail and road transportation network for moving freight from India to Europe through Central Asia, Caucasus and Russia. The route primarily involves moving freight from India to Iran by ship, from Iran to Armenia and Georgia by rail and road, and with the same means of transportation from Georgia to Russia and Europe.
The MoU concerns rail, marine and road transportation tariffs in the INSTC pathway. It crosses India’s Mumbai and Iran’s Bandar Abbas ports along with the Iranian cities of Qazvin, Rasht and Astara, as well as the port of Baku in Azerbaijan and Poti and Batumi in Georgia, IRNA reported.
Earlier, Iran, Russia, India and 10 other countries held a meeting in New Delhi, approving transit and customs agreements regarding the international mega project to provide legal framework for addressing logistical issues and facilitating the smooth movement of freight through the corridor.
The current corridor for India to transport goods to Eurasia and Europe is Suez Canal.
According to Indian officials, INSTC could also serve as the route for Southeast Asian countries to send their cargo to Europe instead of the Suez Canal to cut down on both cost and time.
