India is one of the founding members of the International North- South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a

Question

India is one of the founding members of the International North- South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal a transportation corridor, which will connect

Accepted Answer

Recently, Cargo from Gujarat's Mundra port takes INSTC's Eastern route to reach Kazakhstan. It reached Kazakhstan after traversing Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, bolstering India's efforts to tap the eastern route of INSTC for undertaking trade with central Asia. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is an important initiative taken by India, Russia and Iran by signing an Inter-Governmental Agreement on 12th September 2000, to enhance trade and transport connectivity among countries along its route. At present, there are 13 Members of INSTC, namely- India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman and Syria. Bulgaria has joined as an Observer State. The INSTC is a multi-modal, cost and time effective from India to Northern and Western Europe. It has the potential to enhance India’s connectivity with Central Asia and Eurasian Region and vice versa, taking into account the geo-strategic and economic importance of all the involved countries. The eastern corridor connects Russia to India through the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Iran and Russia are essential links in the corridor, not just Azerbaijan. Hence option (a) is the correct answer. Note: Although option (a) is the most accurate choice, there is a possibility that UPSC could also consider option (d) as correct, since the corridor passes through Azerbaijan as well—particularly along its western branch, which runs from Iran to Azerbaijan, then to Russia, and onward to Europe.