TEHRAN — Iran and India on Monday signed a 10-year contract for equipping and operating the Shahid Beheshti Port Terminal in the southeastern Iranian county of Chabahar, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The report said the contract was signed in a ceremony in the Iranian capital in the presence of Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and Indian Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.

It added that state-owned India Ports Global Limited would provide $120 million in funds to supply strategic equipment to the port and invest over 250 billion dollars in Chabahar's transportation infrastructure

According to IRNA, under the contract, Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization would hand over to an Indian company operations at several of the general cargo and container terminals of the Shahid Beheshti port for a 10-year period.

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It added that state-owned India Ports Global Limited would provide $120 million in funds to supply strategic equipment to the port and invest over 250 billion dollars in Chabahar's transportation infrastructure.

IRNA said the contract aimed to expand cooperation between the two countries under various frameworks, including the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), efforts to link South Asia to North Europe, and a trilateral transit agreement among Iran, India and Afghanistan.

Iran and India have been negotiating the contract for the past three years, which will be extended automatically, according to the Hindustan Times.

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Chabahar, consisting of two separate ports -- Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti -- is Iran's biggest oceanic port and part of the INSTC located north of the Sea of Oman.