International North-South Transport Corridor is a corridor to increase trade between India and Russia. This trade route is 7200 Km long and the transport of freight is through a multi-mode network of roads, ships, and railways. This route connects India and Russia through Iran and Azerbaijan.
Regions involved:
There are 13 member states of the INSTC project.
- India , Iran, Russia , Azerbaijan, Armenia , Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, Oman, Turkey, Syria, Ukraine.
Others:
Bulgaria is the Observer State. The Baltic countries like Latvia and Estonia have also expressed willingness to join the INSTC. Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014: First was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas. Second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali.
Significance of the corridor:
Conceived well before China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), INSTC will not only help cut down on costs and time taken for transfer of goods from India to Russia and Europe via Iran but also provide an alternative connectivity to countries in the Eurasian region.
This will also synchronize with the Ashgabat agreement, a Multimodal transport agreement signed by India, Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
The earlier trade route connecting India and Russia was through the Suez Canal. Hence the major objective of the INSTC corridor was to reduce the time taken, costs incurred, and increase connectivity between major cities like Mumbai, Moscow, Astrakhan (located in Russia), Baku (Azerbaijan), Tehran, Bandar Abbas and Bandar Anzail (located in Iran).
India and INSTC
India shows interest in extending INSTC membership to countries like Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
Establishing a land route via Kabul and Tashkent to form the INSTC’s “Eastern corridor” would maximise the potential of this collaboration.
Also, India wants to include Chabahar port to be included in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
The potential export sectors in India that benefit from INSTC include perishable goods (fruits and vegetables), high-value items like ATMs, industrial printers, 3D printers, robotic assembly accessories, etc., cross-border e-commerce, and sectors that are similar.
On July 7th, 2022, Russian company RZD Logistics announced that it has successfully completed its first transport of goods to India via the INSTC. This statement was also confirmed by Iranian and Indian trade companies.
All these positive developments lead to a promising future of INSTC and the growth of India with it.
