The governments of Russia, India, and Iran have agreed to make operational a test run of a critical segment of the ambitious 7,200-kilometer (4,500-mile) International North-South Transport Corridor. The test run involves Russia shipping two 40-foot containers of wood laminates, weighing 41 tons, from Russia through Iran to India. The shipments were announced coincident with a 3-day visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian to New Delhi, June 8-10. There, Amirabdollahian met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
The June 13 Economic Times of India reported that on June 11, Russia sent the above consignments from St. Petersburg. It proceeds to India via the Caspian Sea port of Astrakhan (which is on the Volga River in Russia), on to the Iranian port of Anzali, then to the Iranian Bandar Abbas port, and finally onward to Western Indian ports The journey between Russia and India will now take less than 25 days, in contrast to the present 40 days.
