A train recently left Russia with 31 containers, bound for India and reached the border with Iran on May 4, via the Eastern route of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The train arrived at the Incheh-Boroun border crossing, from which it was headed to the port of Bandar Abbas, where its cargo will be transferred, and shipped out to its final destination in India.
This train trip is celebrated as the second on this leg of the INSTC, whose first trip along the Eastern section, was made in summer 2022 by a Russian train carrying 39 containers to India. That train left Russia July 6 from Chekhov, traveling 3,800 km through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to enter Iran. It then travelled 1,600 km by rail to Bandar Abbas port, and thence by sea to India. A special ceremony was held at the Iranian border, with top ministers attending.
The commitment is to rapidly increase the volume of freight and frequency of trains on the INSTC, which extends from St. Petersburg, via Central Asia and Iran, to its eastern terminus at Mumbai, India. There is also cooperation between Iran and Russia to make use of the Caspian Sea for these runs from Russia to India via Iran.
