INSTC; the corridor of peace and cooperation in South Caucasus

By Majid Karimi
Since 2021, the issue of North-South Corridor has become one of the most important transit issues between Iran, India and Armenia. On March 8, 2021, India's ambassador to Iran announced that India is planning to connect the port of Iranian Chabahar and the Indian Ocean to Eurasia and Helsinki through the territory of Armenia. This program, which is proposed in the form of the North-South International Transport Corridor (INSTC), can make Chabahar port the most important port in the region.

On the other hand, this news caused a lot of positive reactions in the Armenian press and some government circles. In this regard, the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia met with the Ambassador of India to Armenia on March 16, 2021. In this conversation, there was a discussion about ways to strengthen trade between the two countries and the role of Armenia in the North-South trade corridor.
In the second step, on May 13, 2024, Iran and India signed a historic deal under which New Delhi was granted the right to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman. This deal can facilitate India to export its goods to Iran and then to Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.

India faces a tough choice. The country is deeply invested in the Chabahar project and sees the INSTC as a vital connectivity project to achieve land routes to Europe. Despite sanctions against Iran and Russia and major disputes over arbitration issues with Iran, India has finalized a 10-year agreement with Iran to use the Chabahar port.
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, a west Asia expert and former Indian envoy to many Middle East countries, said in an interview that after the Ukraine war, the Russians became very serious about the rapid implementation of the INSTC to access Chabahar through the Indian Ocean. India does not want to miss this opportunity. He also said that if India is not willing, China will probably fill its place as it has strong ties with Russia.
Armenia has also proposed the construction of the Armenia-Iran railway. This project, which is called Southern Armenia Railway, connects the city of Gavar to Meghri near the border of Iran. This route can play an important role in the North-South corridor and at the same time it will enable access to the Black Sea from the ports of southern Iran.  Necessary investigations for the construction of this railway line are underway and it is expected that its construction will require a capital of three and a half billion dollars, which, of course, has not been attracted to date.

The length of this rail route will be about 310 km, of which approximately 60 km should be built in Iran and 250 km in Armenia. According to the forecasts, this corridor will have the transit capacity of more than 18 million tons of goods from Europe to the Persian Gulf.
This news besides of the Iranian willingness for the INSTC has make the Syunik a strategic region for Iran, India, Armenia to make a regional cooperation in near future.
In addition, Iran highway to Yerevan is under construction and it can be a good route for Chabahar corridor and north and south. This new road will be a part of the multi-modal route of India, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and the Black Sea in the framework of the North-South Corridor.
Armenia would also benefit from the agreement between Iran and India. In January 2024, Iran granted access to Armenia to operate in its Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports to facilitate trade with India. Following the 2020 Artsakh War, Armenia aimed to diversify its security partners and turned to India for defense cooperation and arms purchases. Tehran and New Delhi have been supporting Yerevan’s aspiration to assist in developing and using Iran’s ports. The growth of this trilateral cooperation will significantly improve Armenia’s transit infrastructure and elevate each country’s geo-economic importance in the South Caucasus within the context of the Black Sea – Persian Gulf Corridor.
The Triangular co-operation of Iran, India and Armenia can become a strategic triangle of Aryan countries with this transit corridor and become a very profitable and vital belt for connecting Asia and Europe.

Through Jolfa, Iran can deliver Bandar Abbas cargoes to Armenia by rail to Puti port in the Black Sea, from there to Europe and to Russia via a separate route.
At present, the North-South transport corridor is mainly developing in three directions:

Eastern route - passing through Central Asia
Central route - crossing the Caspian Sea
Western route - passing through Azerbaijan or Armenia


In addition to Azerbaijan, Armenia also claims the western route of INSTC. By announcing the multimodal route of India, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Black Sea regarding INSTC, Yerevan has claimed to compete with Azerbaijan for the western route of this corridor. However, although Armenia wants the strategic corridor to pass through this country, it has not been able to do enough practical activities in this direction.
In short, in the next 2-3 years, a country that meets modern needs and can build a competitive infrastructure will have an edge in the competition on the western route of the North-South transport corridor. As a transit country, it will have the most traffic.
In my opinion, Armenia can become a strategic transit corridor and a road for both Iran and India and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf as well as the Middle East through Iraq and Erbil, considering the geopolitical limitations. Iran can provide this possibility for Armenia through the two ports of Chabahar and Abbas and through the Iran’s Norduz border customs bordering Meghri. Armenia can also be the corridor of stability and reconciliation to the Black Sea and the ports of Batumi and Puti.
India can also join this corridor and now that it is on the path of strategic and defense cooperation with Armenia, it can also use the advantage of Iran and its geography. This is very important to know that Azerbaijan is against the corridor from Armenia and has exerted pressure in Zanegzur and Yeraskh.

The Middle East-West Corridor is a rival of the North-South Corridor, and Iran is worried that it will pass through Zanegzur and cut off the North-South Corridor. China also wants a middle passage and does not play a role in the north and south.
There is another route that can compete with the North-South Corridor from Chabahar-Norduz-Armenia, and that route is Chabahar-Rasht-Baku. Armenia should rebuild and prepare this transit road from Meghri to Yerevan and north in a shorter period of time.
Despite all this, I believe that Iran, apart from any corridor, is determined to make the North-South corridor pass through Armenia and Syunik. Because the route from Yerevan to Puti and the Black Sea will be a suitable option and compete with Türkiye in the Black Sea. And it will also prevent Türkiye and Baku from occupying Syunik province of Armenia in future.
In a summary, I would like to mention these important points:

By creating the North-South Corridor, Iran and India can help Armenia to get out of the geopolitical blockade by Baku and Ankara and take advantage of the positive role of Iran and India in this corridor.
With the creation of this corridor, Armenia will be at the center of this corridor and its importance will be multiplied for the first time after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Armenia will be a more reliable partner for Iran and India in this corridor than transit through Baku.
It can strengthen the geopolitics of Syunik Province in the South Caucasus.
The connectivity can Strengthen the anti-pan-Turkish alliance against Baku racism in the region.
having great customs and transit benefits for Armenia. It will revive and restore economic life and traffic in this war-torn province, and Syunik province will become completely transformed and more stable. The southern borders of Armenia with Iran will be safer and will increase the welfare of the people of Syunik Province.
But the last and most important thing from my point of view is that it can replace the Zanegzur Corridor and thwart the Pan-Turkish plan of connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan and Turkey.