Numerous projections have been disrupted by Israel’s unrelenting assault in Gaza. Even if Israel has taken a terrible toll on Palestinian people in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7, India has realised that it cannot wish Iran away with a wave of its fingers in Washington.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raced to Tehran in response to the Houthi bombardment of ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Chabahar was one of the topics covered. It is reported that the Iranian side even demanded payment in response to the Indian side’s delays.
At the time, Jaishankar tweeted that the two parties had spoken about a long-term plan for India’s participation in Chabahar. He went so far as to say that one of India’s classical languages would be Farsi, or Persian. It’s noteworthy that Delhi is currently negotiating the release of the Indian crew members who were aboard an Israeli ship that was boarded by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in April, coinciding with the signing of India’s 10-year agreement to run one of the port’s terminals.
Source: Drishti IAS
One woman is among the six crew members who have been released. Delhi is obviously working behind the scenes to ensure that the six who are still in Iran’s custody return as soon as possible. In an era of 99-year leases for foreign ports from China, a decade is nothing for a lease to operate a foreign port, but Delhi has committed to investing over $300 million, of which a third will come from an Indian special purpose company called India Ports Global Ltd.
India’s first trade and transit arrangement with Iran in 2003, when it was all fired up to work in Afghanistan under US supervision, was perceived as Delhi’s sarcastic response to Pakistan’s unwillingness to grant overland access for trade with Afghanistan. This is still a valid justification.
Source: Hindustan Times
India and Afghanistan, which is governed by the Taliban, still trade. The Taliban have openly declared their desire to exploit the Chabahar route for shipments to India, given the challenges plaguing the Afghan-Pakistan border and the positive relations between Iran and the Taliban. The Moscow-led International North-South Transport Corridor was once thought to provide a gateway to Central Asia, but due to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, it has received less attention.
China is stepping up quickly to take Russia’s place in the region. But Chabahar is more than just a transit and transportation hub for India. Although the Biden administration has given mixed signals, the Trump administration has made an exception for India’s Chabahar project from US sanctions on Iran. We’ll see how Delhi handles this.
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