Trump scraps waiver for India on Chabahar port sanctions
In a move that would harm India’s strategic interests, US President Donald Trump has directed his administration to rescind ‘sanctions waivers’ related to Chabahar port in Iran.
The US earlier held that the modernisation of Chabahar port will be exempt from sanctions because it served as an important gateway for India to send humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan.
Trump in November 2018 had given a narrow waiver to India to develop the Chabahar port that allows access to Afghanistan while bypassing Pakistan.
The White House put out a ‘Presidential National Security Memorandum’ that lays down multiple actions on Iran.
The memorandum reads, “The Secretary of State – Marco Rubio — shall modify or rescind sanctions waivers, particularly those that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief, including those related to Iran’s Chabahar port project.”
For India, this is bad news. In May last year, India and Iran had signed a 10-year agreement to further develop the Chabahar port as a regional connectivity hub connecting India to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia.
India Ports Global Ltd (IGPL) was tasked to invest approximately $120 million in equipping the port.
India also offered a credit of $250 million to Iran for development aimed at improving Chabahar-related infrastructure.
Under the contract signed between IPGL and Ports & Maritime Organisation of Iran (PMO), IPGL is to further equip and operate the port for the next 10 years after which both sides would further extend their cooperation in Chabahar.
Chabahar is a deep-water port located in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran. It is the closest Iranian port to India, and is in the open sea, providing easy and secure access for large cargo ships.
