CHABAHAR PORT

1.Context

Underlining that India can play a “constructive role” in the region, visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi Friday described his country’s Chabahar port a “golden gateway” and a “symbol of cooperation”, expressing the hope that India will continue to develop the strategic port.

2.What is the strategic significance of Chabahar port?

The Chabahar Port has become one of the most strategically important foreign infrastructure projects for India because it serves economic, geopolitical, and security objectives simultaneously.
Located on Iran’s southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman, the port lies very close to the Arabian Sea and outside the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a major portion of the world’s oil trade passes. Its location itself gives the port enormous strategic value.
For India, the biggest importance of Chabahar is that it provides direct access to Afghanistan and Central Asia without depending on Pakistan. Normally, India’s land access to Afghanistan is blocked because Pakistan does not allow Indian goods to pass through its territory.
Due to this restriction, India faced major difficulties in expanding trade and connectivity with Afghanistan and the resource-rich Central Asian region. Chabahar changes this situation.
Goods from India can reach Chabahar by sea and then move through road and rail networks into Afghanistan and beyond. This gives India an independent trade and transit route into Eurasia.
The port also has strong geopolitical significance because it acts as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region. China has heavily invested in Gwadar Port in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Gwadar is located only a short distance from Chabahar. By developing Chabahar, India seeks to maintain its strategic presence in the region and prevent complete Chinese dominance over key maritime trade routes around the Arabian Sea.
Another major aspect of Chabahar’s importance is its role in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). This corridor aims to connect India with Iran, Central Asia, Russia, and Europe through a combination of sea, rail, and road routes.
The corridor can significantly reduce transportation costs and time compared to traditional routes passing through the Suez Canal. Therefore, Chabahar is not merely a port; it is a gateway connecting South Asia with Eurasia.
The port is also important from the perspective of India’s relations with Afghanistan. India has used Chabahar to send humanitarian assistance such as wheat and medicines to Afghanistan, especially during times of crisis.
This has helped India maintain goodwill and developmental engagement in Afghanistan even without direct land access.
From an energy security perspective, Chabahar helps India strengthen ties with Iran, which possesses vast oil and natural gas reserves.
It also improves India’s access to the energy-rich Central Asian region. In the long run, such connectivity can contribute to India’s energy diversification and trade security.
For Iran, Chabahar provides an opportunity to develop its underdeveloped southeastern region and reduce dependence on ports located inside the Strait of Hormuz. For Afghanistan, it offers an alternative trade route that reduces excessive dependence on Pakistan.
Despite its importance, the project faces several challenges. US sanctions on Iran have slowed investments and infrastructure development. Regional instability in West Asia and Afghanistan also creates uncertainty regarding connectivity projects.
However, India continues to view Chabahar as a long-term strategic investment because it strengthens India’s regional connectivity, enhances maritime influence, and supports its larger geopolitical objective of balancing China’s presence in the region.

Image source: The Iran Primer

3.What is the role of India in the development of the port?

India has played a central role in the development and modernization of Chabahar Port as part of its broader strategic and connectivity policy in West Asia and Central Asia. India’s involvement is not limited to financial investment alone; it includes infrastructure development, port operations, equipment supply, and regional connectivity planning.
India’s engagement with Chabahar began from the understanding that the country needed an alternative trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypassed Pakistan.
Since Pakistan denied India direct land access to Afghanistan, India looked toward Iran’s Chabahar Port as a strategic solution. Recognizing its importance, India and Iran gradually deepened cooperation on the project.
A major step came in 2016 when India, Iran, and Afghanistan signed the Trilateral Transit and Trade Agreement.
Under this agreement, India committed itself to developing the Shahid Beheshti terminal of Chabahar Port and improving connectivity infrastructure linking the port with Afghanistan.
This agreement transformed Chabahar into a regional connectivity project rather than just a bilateral initiative.
India has invested in the port through India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), a company formed by the Government of India for overseas port operations. India supplied cranes, cargo handling equipment, and other modern infrastructure required for port operations.
Indian assistance helped improve the port’s capacity to handle cargo and container traffic efficiently.
India also took responsibility for operating parts of the port. Through IPGL, India obtained the rights to equip and operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal.
This was significant because it marked one of India’s first major overseas port management projects. The arrangement strengthened India’s long-term strategic presence in the region.
Beyond the port itself, India has supported connectivity projects linked to Chabahar. India assisted in developing road connectivity from Chabahar to Afghanistan, particularly through the Zaranj-Delaram Highway in Afghanistan, which India constructed earlier.
This highway connects Afghanistan’s internal road network with routes leading toward Chabahar, enabling movement of goods from the Indian Ocean into Afghanistan.
India has already used the port for trade and humanitarian purposes. Several shipments of wheat, pulses, and humanitarian aid from India to Afghanistan were transported through Chabahar.
This demonstrated the practical utility of the port and reduced Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistani transit routes.
India’s role is also strategic in nature. By participating in Chabahar’s development, India aims to strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean region and counterbalance China’s growing influence through projects like Gwadar Port under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Chabahar allows India to maintain strategic access near the Arabian Sea and improve its connectivity with Eurasia.

4.Trilateral Agreement

In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Tehran and signed the agreement to develop Chabahar port, as well as the trilateral agreement for trade through Chabahar with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani.
Since the India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ) authority took over the operations of the port in 2018.
It has handled 215 vessels, 16, 000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and four million tons of bulk and general cargo, the government said in Parliament last month.

5.Chabahar Route

In the last few years, a fourth strategic objective for the Chabahar route has appeared, with China's Belt and Road Initiative making inroads in the region.
The government hopes to provide Central Asia with an alternate route to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Iran for Future Trade.

Mr Sonowal in his Speech at the Chabahar Day function said that it is India's vision to make the Shahid Beheshti port a transit hub and link it to the International North-South Trade Corridor (INSTC) that also connects to Russia and Europe.

6.Reasons for the delay

Since the beginning, the development of the Shahid Beheshti terminal in Chabahar, as well as surrounding infrastructure, has hit geopolitical roadblock after roadblock.
The biggest issue has been over Iran's relationship with western countries, especially the United States.
In years when Western sanctions against Iran increased and the Chabahar project has been put on the back-burner, while in the years when nuclear talks that resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 came into being, the Chabahar port has been easier to work on.
In 2018, the U.S. Trump administration put paid to India's plans by walking out of the JCPOA and slapping new sanctions on dealing with Iran.
This led to the Modi Government "Zeroing out" all its oil imports from Iran, earlier a major supplier to India, causing a strain in ties.
Even though the U.S. made a special "carve-out" on sanctions for Chabahar.
On the ground, has been difficult to source equipment for the port construction from infrastructure companies that continue to fear secondary sanctions, as well as to engage in shipping and insurance companies for trade through Chabahar.

7.Ties with Taliban

The Modi Government also snapped ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, which put an end to the Humanitarian aid of wheat and pulses that were being sent to Kabul via Chabahar.
When India restarted Wheat aid to Afghanistan this year, it negotiated with Pakistan to use the land route instead.
With the government now reopening the Indian Embassy in Kabul and Establishing ties with the Taliban government.
The Chabahar route may once again be employed, another reason for the recent flurry of activity at the Iranian port the terminal that India has pinned so many hopes on.

For Prelims: Chabahar Port, Belt and Road Initiative

For Mains: Significance of Chabahar Port to India, Relation between Iran and India

Previous Year Questions

1.What is the importance of developing Chabahar Port by India? (2017)

(a) India’s trade with African countries will enormously increase.

(b) India’s relations with oil-producing Arab countries will be strengthened.

(c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

(d) Pakistan will facilitate and protect the installation of a gas pipeline between Iraq and India

Answer (c)

The development of Chabahar Port by India is crucial because it provides India with an alternative route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan. The port, located in Iran, helps India enhance its strategic and economic ties in the region, facilitating trade and transportation while reducing its reliance on Pakistan for land access to Afghanistan

Mains

1. In what ways would the ongoing U.S-Iran Nuclear Pact Controversy affect the national interest of India? How should India respond to this situation? (2018)

2. The question of India’s Energy Security constitutes the most important part of India’s economic progress. Analyse India’s energy policy cooperation with West Asian countries. (2017)

Source: Hindu

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