TEHRAN: India agreed on Monday to finance the development of an Iranian port as a trading hub, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to revive economic ties with Tehran after the lif ting of sanctions.

The Indian leader met Iranian officials including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani during a visit that he said would mark `a new chapter in our strategic partnership` Modi and Rouhani oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the provision of a line of credit from India`s EXIM Bank to develop Iran`s southern port of Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman.

Rouhani hailed the project, saying it could become a `great symbol of cooperation between Iranand India`.

Modi`s visit, the first by an Indian premier to Iran in 15 years, comes after international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in midJanuary following an agreement with world powers over its nuclear programme.

Modi and Rouhani were joined by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to sign a three-way transit accord.

The deal bypassing Pakistan to connect Iran, India, and Afghanistan to central Asia would boost economic growth in the region, Modi said.

`We want to link to the world, but connectivity among ourselves is also a priority,` he said.

`The corridor would spur unhindered flow of commerce throughout the region.Inflow of capital and technology could lead to new industrial infrastructurein Chabahar.

The port, `when linked with the International North South Transport Corridor, would touch South Asia at one end and Europe at another` Rouhani said it (the agreement) was `not merely an economic document but a political and regional one` with a message of regional opportunities for development.

He cautioned the agreement was not against any other country, but to the benefit of `peace and stability in the region` In the evening, Khamenei received Modi.

The Afghan president praised Modi and Rouhani and said the Chabahar partnership was only the beginning.-AFP