Istanbul, Dec 10 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today described Israel as a “terrorist state” and vowed to use “all means to fight” against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the country’s capital.
“Palestine is an innocent victim… As for Israel, it is a terrorist state, yes, terrorist!” Erdogan said in a speech in the central city of Sivas.
“We will not abandon Jerusalem to the mercy of a state that kills children.”
His speech came days after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, angering Palestinians and sparking protests in Muslim and Arab countries.
Four Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in violence following the US announcement.
Rockets were fired from Gaza and Israeli warplanes carried out raids on the territory.
Erdogan earlier described the status of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector Palestinians see as the capital of their future state, as a “red line” for Muslims. He called Trump’s declaration “null and void”.
The Turkish president has used his position as the current chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a summit of the pan-Islamic group on Wednesday.
“We will show that applying the measure will not be as easy as that,” he added today.
During his speech, Erdogan held a picture of what he said was a 14-year-old Palestinian boy from Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank, being dragged away by Israeli soldiers.
Turkey and Israel normalised their relations in recent years but Erdogan has continued to defend the Palestinian cause and has regularly criticised Israeli policy.
Mumbai, Dec 10: Union Roads Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government will be soon announcing a policy which calls for 15 per cent blending of methanol in petrol to make it cheaper and also reduce pollution.
“In the upcoming Parliament session, I am announcing a policy of blending 15 per cent methanol in petrol,” Gadkari said at an event organised by Moneycontrol and Free Press Journal here.
He said methanol gets made from coal and costs only Rs 22 per litre as against the prevailing price of about Rs 80 per litre for petrol and added that China is making the coal byproduct for Rs 17 per litre itself.
“The costs will go down, pollution will go down,” the Union minister said.
He said factories in and around Mumbai, including Deepak Fertilisers and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF), can generate methanol.
Gadkari said Swedish auto major Volvo has got a special engine to the financial capital which runs on methanol and using the locally available methanol, he will be attempting to run 25 buses entirely on the fuel.
The Union minister said ethanol should also be used more widely and said that he has suggested his cabinet colleague in-charge of the petroleum ministry to look at this rather than building petrol refineries that cost over Rs 70,000 crore.
Gadkari said the total investment opportunity on ethanol alone if Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
He reiterated his concerns on the traffic growth because of a 22 per cent rise in car sales annually and expressed a desire to focus less on roads because of this.
On the road works, he said the government has reached 28 per day and plans to accelerate this further to 40 kms soon.
In FY18, it will increase the total number of road projects awarding to 20,000 km from the year ago’s 16,000 km, he said, adding that Rs 7 lakh crore worth projects have been awarded by his ministry since he took charge in 2014.
Gadkari expressed concern over the speed of projects under the Defence Ministry-led Borders Roads Organisation and added that his ministry has started the the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation for the same.
The newly formed company will be undertaking works worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in strategically important locations like north east India, he said.
The government is targeting to increase the the total amount of works awarded by the NHIDCL to 3,000 km in FY18, up from 800 km in FY17, he said.
Bengaluru, Dec 9: For the first time in South Asia one can
trace their geonelogy through a unique genetic test provided by a
geenomics start up Xcode.
The Chennai based company announcing the availability of such a
test on Friday said that the ”South Asian Ancestry Genetic Test”
will trace one’s ancestry in the global and South Asian
sub-population level.
The test will reveal information about oneself comparing the DNA
samples of each individual with more than 35 ethnic groups in India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and other regional countries to provide
a detailed ancestry break-up, Dr Abdur Rub Co-Founder and Chief
Technology Officer, Xcode Life Sciences told newsmen here.
He said – “Our unique heritage, our unique history, the history
of our ancestors, is living within each of us! You may be 20, 30 or
50 years old, but your genes are 3 billion years old.
For the first
time in human history, genetic technology makes it possible to
uncover this unique past that each of us carry in us”.
He said the cost of the test currently was Rs 8000, but over the
period the cost could come down with increased technological
interventions.
Dr Analabha Basu, Associate Professor, in the Kolkata based
National Institute of Biomedical Genomics said “Knowledge about the
origin of the human species as a whole has the potential to reshape
our society.
The more we learn about our diversity, the more we
learn how connected we are.
It can lead to path-breaking medical
discoveries and pave the way forward to research based on our DNA
patterns.
”
Xcode will also help individuals to trace their paternal
ancestry by evaluating a person’s DNA which will decode ancient
migratory patterns of their forefathers.
Speaking about the company goal and expansion plans, Dr Abdur Rub
said “Our goal is to bring down the disease burden of metabolic
disease in India and across the world.
We intend to grow to a 1
million-customer base in the next 3 years.
We are expanding our
global footprint and are known for both genomic research as well as
high quality genetic tests, reports and related services”.
Ghaziabad, Dec 8 : A special CBI court today awarded death sentence to Chandigarh businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surender Koli for rape and murder of a 24-year-old maid in the Nithari killings case that rocked the country.
The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 35,000 on Koli and Rs 25,000 on Pandher, CBI Spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here.
The woman’s body was among those of 19 victims found from the backyard of Pandher’s house in Nithari village in Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
“It was alleged that Surender Koli committed the rape and murder of the victim at D-5, Sector 3, Noida in (Pandher’s house) on November 12, 2006,” Dayal said.
He said it was alleged in the FIR that the victim had gone to Pandher’s house for work and never came back.
The family of the victim had filed a missing complaint after she did not return home on October 12, 2006.
During a search in the area behind Pandher’s house, the Noida Police had recoverd skeletal remains. It was DNA testing of one of the remains that matched with the mother and brother of the victim. Her clothes from the skeletal remains were also identified by her relatives.
A charge sheet was filed by the CBI on June 22, 2007
Calling the killings the “rarest of the rare” cases, CBI Special Judge Pawan Kumar Tiwari had yesterday convicted the two for murder, kidnapping to murder, rape and destruction of evidence and reserved its order on sentencing for today.
In his order on the quantum of sentence, he said they be “hanged till death”.
Special Public Prosecutor Jai Prakash Sharma said that the Noida Police had found skeletal remains of 19 persons, mostly children, from the backyard of Pandher’s house.
A total 19 cases were lodged but in three cases the CBI had filed closure reports due to lack of evidence, he said.
“The CBI had filed charge sheets in 16 cases out of which in 10 cases (including the present one) sentence has been pronounced while six are still under trial,” the CBI spokesperson said.
Among the 10 cases, both Koli and Pandher were convicted by the special court in three cases while in remaining cases Koli alone was awarded death senetence.
Pandher was acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in one of the cases in which he was convicted by the special court.
In one of the cases, his death sentence was commuted to life term by the high court in 2015.
The sensational killings came to light with the discovery of eight skeletal remains of children from the drain behind Pandher’s house on December 29, 2006.
Pandher and Koli were subsequently arrested by the Noida Police.
With further digging and searching of drains and the area around Pandher’s house, more skeletal remains were found. Most of these remains proved to be that of poor children and young women who had gone missing from the area.
Within 10 days, the CBI took over case and its search resulted in the recovery of more bones.
During the interrogation, Koli had accepted rape, murder and cannibalism, according to the CBI.
United Nations, Dec 8: Almost 17 million babies live in areas where air pollution is at least six times higher than international limits, causing them to breathe toxic air and potentially risking their brain development, according to a new paper released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Danger in the Air, notes that breathing in particulate air pollution can damage brain tissue and undermine cognitive development – with lifelong implications and setbacks.
“Not only do pollutants harm babies’ developing lungs – they can permanently damage their developing brains – and, thus, their futures,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
New Delhi, Dec 7 : In a setback to the Art of Living Foundation of spiritual leader Ravi Shankar, the National Green Tribunal today held it responsible for causing damage and environmental degradation of the Yamuna flood plains by holding a three-day cultural extravaganza last year.
While refusing to impose an additional environment fine on the AoL which has already deposited Rs 5 crore, the NGT ordered the DDA to use this amount to restore the floodplains and bill the AoL if the cost is more or return to it the balance if the cost is below that amount.
The AoL termed the verdict as “erroneous and untenable” and said they would move the Supreme Court against it.
Ordering that the Yamuna riverbed should not be used to hold any cultural activity of this kind in future, the green panel directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to assess the damage caused on floodplains and compute cost of restoration in line with the recommendations of the expert panel appointed by it.
“We hold and declare that AoL is responsible for causing damage and environmental degradation of the floodplain of river Yamuna limited to the area that was awarded to it by DDA and the State of UP, in terms of the report of the High Powered Committee,” the NGT said in its judgement.
The AoL had organised the World Culture Festival from March 11-13, 2016, on the floodplains and constructed an oval-shaped stage over an area of seven acres.
Noting that the AoL has already deposited Rs 5 crore with the DDA, it said “in the event, the expenditure for that purpose on the portion of the land forming part of Phase-II of the project of DDA is found to be in excess of Rs 5 crore, DDA would be at liberty to recover the said amount and AoL shall be liable to pay the said amount on demand.
“If finally the expenditure to be incurred on that amount is less than Rs 5 crore, the remaining amount would be refunded by DDA to AoL,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.
The tribunal rapped the DDA over its failure to maintain the natural features and ecology of the Yamuna floodplains and said it has failed to exercise its statutory duty in consonance with the environmental laws in force.
It, however, refrained from imposing environmental compensation on the DDA on the ground that it has already planned construction of a bio-diversity park and improvement of floodplains from its own funds.
The bench, also comprising Justice Jawad Rahim and expert member B S Sajwan, said that even the Delhi Pollution Control Committee had failed to exercise due caution in granting permission to AoL. It should have considered the request for permission in accordance with environmental laws in force.
Before the pronouncement of the judgement, the NGT was informed that Justice R S Rathore, who had earlier heard the matter, had recused from the bench.
In a statement, the AoL termed the verdict as “erroneous and untenable” and said they did not agree with it and will approach the Supreme Court.
“The Art of Living will approach the Supreme Court. We are not in agreement with the verdict. AoL is disappointed with the decision taken by the NGT for damaging Yamuna floodplains during its World Culture Festival.
“We do not agree with the verdict. Our submissions have not been dealt with/considered. We will appeal to the Supreme Court. We are confident that we will get justice before the Supreme Court,” AoL said.
Yamuna activist Manoj Misra, who had claimed that severe damage was done to the river and the floodplains and had filed a plea in the NGT in this regard, termed the decision as a victory for Yamuna.
“Our contention has been vindicated. We had said that the damage was caused to the floodplains and the NGT has upheld our plea. This is victory of river Yamuna. I hope a strong message will go across the country to those who are damaging the floodplains of the rivers. People need to know that river floodplain is not waste land,” Misra said.
The expert panel had earlier told the NGT that an estimated Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to the cultural extravaganza.
Misra had claimed that severe damage was done to the river and the floodplains and it must be restored by authorities concerned.
New Delhi, Dec 7 : An online petition against the bail-in provision in the FRDI bill has got thousands of signatures even as the finance ministry said that the proposal, under consideration of a joint parliamentary committee, is depositor friendly and provides more protection.
An online petition on Change.org against the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017, has gone viral on social media, seeking public support against what it terms as an attempt to “allow a government entity to use depositors’ money to save a bank on the verge of bankruptcy”.
The petition was started by a Mumbai-based individual, Shilpa Shree, with a single signature and has got over 40,000 signups within 24 hours, supporting her appeal to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to not let this bill pass with the ‘bail-in’ provision.
“Our hard earned money that we have saved for our children and for our future will be used to bail-in the banks,” the petitioner said.
“This bill gives power to a government entity to use depositors money to save a bank on the verge of bankruptcy.
This government entity can declare the bank doesn’t owe you any money though you have deposited your hard earned money with it,” the petition said.
Meanwhile, the finance Ministry on Thursday said that the FRDI Bill is depositor friendly and provides more protection to them compared to existing provisions.
“The FRDI Bill is far more depositor friendly than many other jurisdictions, which provide for statutory bail-in, where consent of creditors or depositors is not required for bail-in,” it said.
The FRDI bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11, 2017, is under consideration of the joint committee of Parliament. The panel is consulting all the stakeholders on the provisions of the legislation.
“The FRDI Bill does not propose in any way to limit the scope of powers for the government to extend financing and resolution support to banks, including public sector banks.
The government’s implicit guarantee for public sector banks remains unaffected,” it said.
The government further said Indian banks have adequate capital and are also under prudent regulation and supervision to ensure safety and soundness as well as systemic stability.
The existing laws ensure integrity, security and safety of the banking system.
New Delhi, Dec 7 : In a significant development, elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) today decided to admit India as its new member, which is expected to raise New Delhi’s stature in the field of non-proliferation besides helping it acquire critical technologies.
The decision was taken at the two-day plenary meeting of the grouping in Vienna.
“Wassenaar Arrangement participating states reviewed the progress of a number of current membership applications and agreed at the plenary meeting to admit India which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state as soon as the necessary procedural arrangements for joining the WA are completed,” the grouping said in a statement.
India’s entry into the export control regime would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The WA membership is also expected to build up a strong case for India’s entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Significantly, China, which stonewalled India’s entry into the 48-nation NSG is not a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement.
The Wassenaar Arrangement plays a significant role in promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.
Its member countries are required to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals. The aim is also to prevent the acquisition of these items by terrorists.
In June last year, India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), another key export control regime, as a full member.
Since its civil nuclear deal with the US, India has been trying to get into export control regimes such as the NSG, the MTCR, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement that regulate the conventional, nuclear, biological and chemicals weapons and technologies.
French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler congratulated India on “joining” the Wassenaar Arrangement.
“One more recognition, after MTCR, of the growing role India plays in today’s world,” he said.
In the plenary session, the WA reaffirmed its strong support for robust export controls on a global basis as an important tool for ensuring international peace and stability.
It also adopted new export controls in a number of areas, including military explosives and specific electronic components.
“Existing controls were further clarified regarding ground stations for spacecraft, submarine diesel engines, technology related to intrusion software, software for testing gas turbine engines, analogue-to-digital converters, non- volatile memories and information security,” the grouping said in the statement at the end of the two-day meeting.
The next regular plenary meeting of WA will be held in Vienna in Austria in December 2018, it was announced.
Kuwait City, Dec 6: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit was cut short by a day amid reports of heightened tension within the grouping after rulers of three member countries–Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE– on Tuesday boycotted the meet here.
Differences within the GCC widened with UAE and Saudi Arabia announced forming a new and separate military and economic partnership early in the day ahead of the summit.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry in a statement said the new joint cooperation committee is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries”.
Rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE have sent lower-ranking officials to the GCC meeting.
In June, the three countries cut ties with Qatar after accusing it of supporting “terrorism”, allegations that Qatar strongly denies.
New Delhi, Dec 6: The Supreme Court today said it would hear on January 31 a batch of pleas, including that of two Rohingya refugees who have approached it against the Centre’s decision to deport Rohinigya Muslims to Myanmar.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said it would also hear on the next date the interim applications seeking to be impleaded as parties in the ongoing case.
“We are not rejecting any of the impleadment application before us in this matter. We will hear it on the next date,” the bench said.
On November 21, the apex court had agreed to defer the matter for hearing it today.
Two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, had approached the apex court opposing the Centre’s decision to deport over 40,000 refugees who came to India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.
Various other petitions, including those by former RSS ideologue and Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan leader K N Govindacharya, the CPI(M) youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the West Bengal child rights body and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, have been filed in the apex court on the matter.
The top court had on October 13 said the Rohingya refugee problem was of a “great magnitude” and the state would have to play a “big role” while dealing with the contentious issue.
It had earlier decided to give a detailed and holistic hearing on the government’s decision to deport Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, observing that a balance has to be struck between national interest and human rights as the issue involved national security, economic interests and humanity.
The court had suggested to the Centre not to deport these refugees, but the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta had urged that it should not be written in the order as anything coming on record would have international ramifications.
The Rohingyas, who fled to India after violence in the Western Rakhine State of Myanmar, were settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.
In a communication to all states, the union home ministry had said the rise of terrorism in last few decades had become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants were prone to recruitment by terrorist organisations.
It had directed the state governments to set up a task force at district level to identify and deport illegally- staying foreign nationals.
New Delhi, Dec 5: The Supreme Court on Monday asked Uttar Pradesh to come up a mechanism for promotion and facilitation of inclusive education, so that students suffering from disability are not kept away from mainstream education.
The court sought a reply from the state government on how it would work out the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, by providing inclusive education in the state.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said an affidavit should be filed by secretary of UP’s department of education, while keeping in mind the provisions of the Act dealing with equality and non-discrimination.
“The affidavit shall also contain the number of disabled children in the State of UP and the categories of the disability,” it said.
Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati filed an affidavit in the apex court in pursuance of its earlier order and said the state government was keen to have special schools with special teachers to impart education to the disabled children who cannot be taught in normal schools.
She said 16 special schools have already been established, which are functional, and teachers have been appointed there.
These schools were imparting education to visually impaired, hearing and speech impaired, mentally disabled and physically disabled children, she said, adding that these schools have residential facilities and admit students in the non-residential category also.
The state government also said that seven schools for visually impaired were located in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Banda, Saharanpur and Meerut cities while five schools for hearing and speech impaired are in Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Agra, Farukhabad and Lucknow cities.
With regard to mental disability, it said there were two schools running at Allahabad and Lucknow, while two special schools for the physically disabled were functioning in Lucknow and Pratapgarh.
Bhati said 17 more schools were under construction for children with special needs.
The top court also constituted a two member committee of advocates Rishi Malhotra and Gopal Shankaranarayanan to visit the schools and file a report in six weeks. It listed the matter for further hearing in the third week of January.
Earlier, the top court had questioned the lack of separate schools and distinctly trained teachers for students who suffer from autism, blindness and deafness.
It had observed that it is “impossible to think” that children, who are disabled or suffer from any kind of disability or are mentally challenged, can be imparted education in mainstream schools along with normal children.
Emphasising the need for a separate system, the court had said “the students who suffer from blindness, deafness and autism or such types of disorder may be required to have separate schools with distinctly trained teachers”.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Rajneesh Kumar Pandey, through advocate Prashant Shukla, claiming lack of sufficient number of special educators in Uttar Pradesh and other states to teach the Children With Special Needs (CWSN).
The petition by 17 teachers, who claim to have undertaken the training required to teach CWSN, has contended that to make Right to Education a success, it is necessary that qualified special educators are there in each school to help disabled kids prepare to face the challenges of life.
New Delhi, Dec 4: The Rajasthan government is planning to provide air connectivity to all districts in the state, a senior official said.
While the centre is pushing ahead with the ambitious regional air connectivity scheme UDAN, the Rajasthan government’s intra-state air services initiative has been operational for little over a year.
Besides, the state government has plans to start ‘Palace on Wings’ services to connect heritage properties, forts and palaces by air, according to Captain Keshri Singh, Director of Civil Aviation Rajasthan.
The government has plans to “connect all districts with air services either by intra-state or UDAN or regular flight operations,” he told PTI.
Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports in different parts of the country.
There are 18 state-owned airfields in Rajasthan besides AAI airports, defence airfields and private airstrips.
Among others, the state is working on efforts to bolster the aviation sector. These include “strengthening, extension and licensing of state-owned airstrips to make them compatible for regular commercial flight operations,” Singh said.
New Delhi, Dec 4: The first phase of the Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman was inaugurated on Sunday by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, opening a new strategic route connecting Iran, India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan, and reflecting growing convergence of interests among the three countries.
The port in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich nation’s southern coast is easily accessible from India’s western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment and is located at distance of around 80 kms from Chabahar.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan represented India at the inauguration ceremony of the Phase 1 of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar which was also attended by ambassadors and senior officials of the region.
An India-Iran-Afghanistan ministerial-level trilateral meeting on Chabahar also took place today on the sidelines of the event where the three countries resolved to work towards integrated development of connectivity infrastructure including ports, road and rail networks to open up greater opportunities for regional market access and integration of their economies.
The Chabahar port is being considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries besides ramping up trade among the three countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi.
“The routes of the region should be connected on land, sea and air,” Rouhani said at the inauguration ceremony, according to his office.
India has been closely working with Afghanistan and Iran to create alternative, reliable access routes for trade.
Under the agreement signed between India and Iran in May last year, India is to equip and operate two berths in Chabahar Port Phase-I with capital investment of USD 85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of USD 22.95 million on a 10-year lease.
The MEA, in a statement, said Radhakrishnan also represented India in the second India-Iran-Afghanistan ministerial-level trilateral meeting on Chabahar port in Chabahar today. Iran was represented by its Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi and Afghanistan by its Trade and Commerce Minister Humayoon Rasaw.
In the meeting, the three countries assessed the progress in the development of the port and reiterated their commitment to complete and operationalise it at the earliest, which they felt would provide alternative access to landlocked Afghanistan to regional and global markets.
A joint statement issued after the meeting said the ministers also deliberated on trilateral pact relating to the mega connectivity project and expressed satisfaction on the completion of the ratification procedures by Afghanistan and India. They welcomed the steps taken by Iran to complete the ratification process.
In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan had inked a pact which entailed establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as one of the regional hubs for sea transportation in Iran, besides multi- modal transport of goods and passengers across the three nations.
“The ministers discussed the next steps for full implementation of the agreement and moving towards its operationalisation. Towards this endeavour, it was decided to finalise protocols related to transport and transit, ports, customs procedures and consular affairs. It was also decided to convene an expert-level meeting of senior officials of the three countries at the earliest,” the joint statement said.
Reiterating the importance of Chabahar as a hub for regional economic connectivity and their commitment to work towards this objective, the ministers also commended the joint efforts of the three countries in the recent successful transit of wheat from India to Afghanistan through Chabahar.
“The ministers agreed that an integrated development of connectivity infrastructure including ports, road and rail networks would open up greater opportunities for regional market access and contribute towards the economic integration and benefit of the three countries and the region,” the statement said.
The ministers also agreed to organise a connectivity event involving all stakeholders at Chabahar at the earliest so as to increase awareness about the new opportunities offered by Chabahar Port.
The MEA said the meeting also commended the transit of first tranche of 1,10,000 tonnes of wheat from India to Afghanistan through the Chabahar Port.
It said Radhakrishnan expressed his positive appreciation to the Iranian side on the recent steps taken towards ratification by the Majlis of Iran on the Trilateral Transit and Trade Agreement signed in May 2016 between India, Iran and Afghanistan.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Rouhani noted that transit is the best communication tool for nations, adding “the routes of the region should be connected on land, sea and air,” according to his office.
Ahead of the inauguration of the port, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday met her Iranian counterpart Javed Zarif in Tehran during which implementation of the Chabahar port project was discussed among other issues.
Swaraj made a stopover at Tehran on her return from Russian city of Sochi where she had attended the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Over a month ago, India had sent its first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan by sea through the Chabahar port, marking opening of the new transit route.