On Dec. 19, the second official border crossing between Iran and Pakistan was inaugurated. This new crossing will provide the shortest land route linking the Pakistani port of Gwadar to westward corridors, Tasnim reported. The Rimdan-Gabad border crossing, situated in the southeastern corner of Iran in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan, was inaugurated in a ceremony attended by ranking Iranian and Pakistani officials. The importance of opening this crossing was made public in May 2019 when the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Islamabad.
The new crossing is strategically located 22 km north of the Sea of Oman, while the southern port of Gwadar, Pakistan is around 60 km from the crossing. Pakistani tourists and pilgrims can now enter Iran via the border crossing, go to the Iranian port city of Chabahar, and travel farther to various destinations. Prior to inauguration, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh had pointed out that the new border crossing would “raise the economic and trade exchanges,” and stated that Iran gives “special priority to interaction and cooperation with neighbors.”
In her article, “New Iran-Pakistan Border Crossing Has Implications Beyond Trade,” Sabena Siddique, writing for Al-Monitor, said Iran and Pakistan’s border opening has regional and geopolitical relevance. “First, having streamlined road connectivity between the strategic ports of Gwadar and Chabahar, the second gateway has practically linked Iran up with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.… Nearer the coastline areas, at a distance of just 130 km from the port of Chabahar in Iran, this new crossing at Rimdan-Gabad can give the Pakistani port of Gwadar access to westward corridors via the shortest land route possible,” she wrote.
