India likely to take control of Chabahar Port in Iran
This will be the first time when India will assume operational control of a port overseas.
This will be the first time when India will assume operational control of a port overseas.
Landlocked Afghanistan faces many issues related to trade as it has to cross Iran or Pakistan to reach water ports as the seaports accelerate the rate of international trade and act as an inhibitor in trade cost.
Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi expressed Tehran's intention during his meeting with visiting India's Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal in Tehran earlier this week.
For India, the Chabahar Port is a much-needed project for sea access to landlocked Afghanistan. The port has also emerged as a commercial transit hub for the region.
Given India's own civilisational-cultural-economic stakes with Iran, the drift of Tehran towards Beijing could not have come at a worse time. With Indias own geostrategic investments in the Chabahar port in Iran faltering, detrimental developments in Afghanistan, and the commercial implications of being unable to conduct Indo-Iranian trade due to the sanctions, the overall situation is grim. The possible linkages of the Chabahar imperatives with the Gwadar facility could be disastrous for Delhi. Besides, an energy-hungry economy like India always counted upon the Iranians as amongst the top three suppliers of oil
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function, Iranian Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni said, "India is a part of the region...it should be a part of de-escalation."
America's tough sanctions on Iran were seen as an escalation of the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" on Iran, had come after it gave temporary 180-days waiver to eight countries, including India, China, Turkey and Japan among others last year.
The US will apply sanctions on India if it continues to import oil from Iran after 2 May
Chabahar Port is being developed by India as it provides New Delhi a critical transport link to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.
According to the joint statement, the Ministers emphasised the importance of developing and implementing projects that provide a concerted solution to the problems and issues of economic growth of Central Asia.
