Plans for Iranian port pressing ahead

India will push ahead this week with plans to build a port in southeast Iran, two sources said, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi keen to develop trade ties with Central Asia and prepared to fend off US pressure not to rush into any deals with Iran.

India and Iran agreed in 2003 to develop a port at Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, near Iran's border with Pakistan, but the venture has made little progress due to Western sanctions on Iran.

"Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari will travel on a daylong tour to Iran to sign a memorandum of understanding for development of Chabahar port," a Shipping Ministry source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deal was expected to be signed on Wednesday, he said.