TEHRAN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran and India signed nine agreements on Saturday to expand bilateral economic ties, with focus on the development and utilization of Iran's strategic Chabahar Port.
The agreements were signed in the presence of Iranian President Rouhani and Indian Prime Minister Modi in the Indian capital on Saturday.
According to a major agreement, Iran awarded the operation of its southern port, Shahid Beheshti port, to India; a move that could enable India to dodge Pakistan and reach markets in Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond.
Based on the deal, Iran would grant the operational control of Shahid Beheshti, in Chabahar port city on the northern side of the Sea of Oman, to India for 18 months, Press TV reported.
In a joint press conference with Modi on Saturday, Rouhani said that Chabahar could reinforce Iran and India's historical ties by serving as a bridge connecting the subcontinent to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.
"We are ready to sign bilateral and trilateral agreements to turn the transit route passing through Chabahar into a strategic pathway serving the reinforcement of regional ties," he said.
Modi said that the expansion of connectivity is important for New Delhi, and that his country is also interested in the construction of a rail link between Chabahar and Iran's southeastern city of Zahedan, a crucial link that India would need to expand its reach northward.
"We will support the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan rail link so that Chabahar gateway's potential could be fully utilized," Modi was quoted as saying.
"We want to expand connectivity, cooperation in the energy sector and the centuries-old bilateral relationship," he said.
Chabahar "can change the trade relations game across the region and the world," he said, noting that India had already begun exporting its goods, including wheat, to Afghanistan via the Iranian port city.
Also, Iran's Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi said on the sidelines of signing session that New Delhi would initially invest as much as 87 million U.S. dollars in the developing of the Chabahar project.
This would be part of a total investment of two billion U.S. dollars that India would make in Iran's port and rail projects, he added.
On Saturday, the two sides also signed double taxation avoidance agreement, and an MoU on exemption of visa requirements for diplomatic passport.
Tehran and New Delhi also agreed to cooperate in the field of traditional systems of medicine, to cooperate in agriculture, health and medicine, as well as postal sectors.
Later on the day, Rouhani tweeted that Iran and India have "very good cooperation" in the two sectors of "transit and energy," which will be expanded in near future.
Iran can provide India with its energy needs by entering into long-term strategic agreements, he added.
Rouhani stressed that "Iran and India's ties are not to any country's detriment."
Meanwhile, the Indian prime minister said in the joint press conference on Saturday that many obstacles have been removed from the way of expanding bilateral economic relations.
He expressed hope that mutual investment projects to bear fruit and to accelerate the trend of growth in mutual ties.
"Indian companies are ready to further their investment in the areas of mutual cooperation, including oil and gas," Modi said.
Rouhani arrived in India on Thursday for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Modi.
India and Iran have friendly relations in many areas. There are significant trade ties, particularly in crude oil imports into India and diesel exports to Iran.
Iran is the second largest supplier of crude oil to India, supplying more than 425,000 barrels of oil per day, and consequently India is one of the foreign investors in Iran's oil and gas industry.
On May 22, 2016, Modi paid an official visit to Iran. The visit focused on infrastructure, energy and trade.
