Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will lead the Indian delegation to the official inauguration of Iran's President re-elect Hassan Rouhani's second four-year term on August 5. Rouhani was reelected President in May this year. Media reports indicate that delegations from over 100 countries may participate in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This record turnout may indicate that the days of Iran's isolation may be over. New Delhi's selection of Gadkari as the leader of India's delegation to the function is prompted by the Transport Minister's enviable reputation in the global community, especially in the Gulf region, as the master of Infrastructure projects and an investor-friendly minister. His involvement in the implementation of ambitious Chahbahar Port project is cited as an example. Further, India has sold the idea of a transport corridor to Iran, Russia, the Caucasus region and Central Asia as an alternative to China's "One Belt, One Road" project. Gadkari is expected to take up this matter with the new Iranian administration and lobby for early clearance of the proposal by Tehran. The proposed North-South corridor would stretch to Russia via Iran and connect the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean with the Caspian Sea, thus making the Islamic Republic a key player in the region. In an interview with Sputnik Persian, Iranian political analyst Pir Mohammad Mollazehi spoke about the potential benefits the North-South project promised Iran and Russia. "What makes the North-South corridor so important is that it would bring transportation costs and travel time down by 30 percent. It is with these considerations in mind that Iran, Russia, and India are now discussing the use of the Chabahar or Bender Abbas ports to bring cargoes to the Iranian ports on the Caspian Sea," Mollazehi said. He added that India was also looking for a way to deliver its goods by rail or by road to Russia and Europe. "They could also build a railway between Chabahar and Bender Abbas to haul cargoes to Khorasan and further on to Central Asia. We expect India to get more actively involved in this project and invest more in the development of the Chabahar port, which is a gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia," he noted. (By M K Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)