KABUL (January 23 2009): Afghan President Hamid Karzai and India's foreign minister opened a new road on Thursday that will help link Afghanistan with a port in Iran and challenge Pakistani dominance of trade routes into the landlocked country. The 220-km (135-mile) road in the south-west Afghan province of Nimroz is the centrepiece of a $1.1 billion Indian reconstruction effort in Afghanistan.
It has drawn sniping from Pakistan, worried about its rival's growing influence there. India, denied access through Pakistan, hopes to be able to deliver goods to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chahbahar, and this has triggered fears in Pakistan it is being encircled. "This project symbolises India's strong commitment towards development of Afghanistan," said Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"It also symbolises the strong determination of the government and people of these two countries that they will not succumb to the pressure of the forces of terror," added Mukherjee, who said he had discussed intelligence-sharing with his Afghan counterpart Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.
The road, which cost $150 million and was entirely funded by India, runs from Delaram in Nimroz to Zaranj on the Iranian border, which connects to the Iranian port of Chahbahar. It opens up an alternate route into Afghanistan, which now relies mostly on goods transported overland from ports in Pakistan.
