The Indian government announced on Aug. 2 that it has approved a proposal to build a super-port on its western coast to augment global trade networks and to boost its trade with Russia. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways released a short video on July 7, “Coming Up Vadhvan Port,” revealing, “Vadhavan Port, Maharashtra, is an ambitious project under MoPSW’s Sagarmala Program. The proposed new greenfield port that is going to be India’s 13th Major Port, which will be an integral part of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.”
RT reported that the port “would aid trade flow through the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) and the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC)….
“Proposed in 2000, the 7,200km-long INSTC was meant to transport goods from India to Russia via Iran as an alternative to the conventional Suez Canal route. However, the INSTC has yet to be fully implemented. The conduit has once again assumed significance in view of a sharp spike in trade between India and Russia.” The full implementation of the network has been delayed by sanctions against Russia, and by Israel’s attack on Gaza.
The INSTC is a network of rail, shipping and road transportation corridors for moving freight between India and Russia, and includes Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as points throughout Europe. Several ports, canals and railways are either operational or in the planning stages. The network, when fully operational, would not only cut shipping costs, but could be a potential economic boon to the region (and the world), by promoting peaceful economic development. It would also be less than half the length of the current standard shipping route (from Moscow, around all of Europe, through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal, over to the west coast of India).
