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Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly pushed the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as the key connectivity link between Russia and India via Iran by describing it as a truly ambitious project notwithstanding China hard pressing BRI as a mega connectivity initiative in the Eurasian region.
Addressing the 6th Caspian Sea Summit on Wednesday in the presence of leaders from Central Asia and Iran, Putin made special reference to the INSTC that connects India with Russia within the shortest possible time. He described the project, which is 7,200-kilometre-long, as a “transport artery from St Petersburg to ports in Iran and India”. INSTC aims to connect Caspian Sea region countries, including Kazakhstan.
Earlier this month, Russia sent consignments for India from St Petersburg via the Caspian port of Astrakhan and the Iranian Port of Anzali and from there to Bandar Abbas Port and thereafter to Western Indian ports to operationalise INSTC. The consignments are two 40 feet containers of wood laminates weighing 41 tonnes. The total journey will take less than 25 days cutting the nearly 40 days it currently takes to transport goods from Russia to India and vice-versa. Besides reducing time, INSTC is considered a viable option for Indo-Russian trade amid current geo-political challenges.
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