Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to push forward agreements with Iran.

In its plans to develop better trade relations with Central Asia, India decided to push forward a deal with Iran for building a new port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman close to the Pakistan border. The agreement for this project was signed more than ten years ago, but due to the sanctions in place against Iran they were unable to proceed with the deal. Now, India wants to make this idea a reality against warnings from the US not to do it.

The reason to pick up pace in port construction is the recent China – Pakistan agreement for energy and infrastructure, which encouraged India’s government to make trade deals with all Gulf countries. The shipping Minister of India, Nitin Gadkari will travel to Iran to sign a memorandum of understanding for the Chabahar port.

June 30 will be D day for Iran and its nuclear program that will be supported by leading countries in the world. After that, sanctions could also be eased towards Tehran which gve India another reason to scout new deals with neighboring countries.

The United States warned India not to rush into making deals with Iran before the agreement with western countries is final, but New Delhi officials didn’t want to miss their opportunity to improve their energy, infrastructure and trade business.

What worries the US is that they didn’t see details of the memorandum that was signed and they are afraid that it is against US laws. Also, even if they ease sanctions for Iran they believe their nuclear program can stay functional and comprehensive only if pressure of the international community remains on Iran and India may be giving Iran an alternative option if discussions with western countries aren’t resolved.

Iran’s Trade Ministry offered free-trade zone to India, as a sign of good cooperation which will help India a lot. First of all they already lose too much money on importing Iranian goods because of the rupee denomination, secondly their exporters will have chance to spread their products not just to Iran, but also to former Soviet countries.

The port in Iran will cut India’s transport costs by a third and it will finally give them a way to circumvent Pakistan. The plan is to go through Afghanistan where the Indian government already built 220Km of road, spending a total of 100 million dollars. Their relationship with Afghan officials made their work safe and the security of their investment is at the highest level possible.

If Iran gets free from its sanctions it will become a new haven for investors from all over the world. India’s plan is to have everything in place before other countries to secure its place in Irans future.