July 08, 2019
Indian government, which had been allocating ₹150 crore for Iran’s Chahbahar port each year for the past few years, has recently slashed its allocation to just ₹45 crore in the Budget for 2019-2020. When asked for reasons, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sources indicated that India does not anticipate developing Chabahar port at the same pace as earlier. According to the sources, the figure reflected a “readjustment in the budgetary allocation based on a realistic assessment of likely expenditure to be incurred this financial year.”
Technically, the U.S. has issued India a waiver to develop Chabahar port, to promote trade with Afghanistan as a part of its “South Asia” strategy. In practice, however, the cancellation of all waivers for oil and crippling economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, have all but frozen deals. Afghan banks are hesitant to open credit lines for shipments, and shippers and cargo handlers are staying away from servicing the Iranian port.
“During the last months (February-May), Chabahar had flourished for transportation of goods and commodities to Afghanistan and central Asia with the volume of loading and unloading twice as much as before,” Iran’s Ambassador to Delhi Ali Chegeni said. “But the U.S. officials’ hostile statements on Iran’s sanctions naturally and indirectly has negative impacts and led to worry amongst companies about working with Iranian ports including Chabahar. Read more.
Source: The Hindu.
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