Taliban overruns Afghanistan; India’s Chabahar port bet may go awry

August 17, 2021: The ruthless takeover by the Taliban in Afghanistan this month may likely alter India’s plans for the Chabahar Port in Iran. India had commemorated Chabahar Day along with the Maritime India Summit-2021 held from March 2 to 4, 2021.

Sanjeev Ranjan, secretary (ports, shipping and waterways) had focused on the significance of the Indian involvement for the development of Chabahar Port and its achievements. He also stressed the role of Chabahar Port as a transit hub to support landlocked countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan by giving access to the open seas, optimising logistics costs by bringing in efficiency, and creating a reliable and safe transport corridor.

Iranian officials claim India took just too much to complete the project due to the geopolitical developments in the area, and political changes in the U.S.

India’s exports to Afghanistan declined 17 percent to $825 million in FY21 from $997 million in FY20, commerce ministry data show.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, at the South-Central Asia connectivity conference in Tashkent last month, had projected Chabahar Port as a key regional transit hub for Central Asian states.

India had agreed to help Iran develop the Chabahar port in 2015 to promote trade with Afghanistan without being hampered by Pakistan.

If the Taliban’s dependence on trade increases in Karachi, and it creates trouble for India around the Chabahar Port, Indian investments in the area could be dead forever. With China willing to develop friendly relations with the Taliban, the challenge is very clear for India.

The Chabahar port is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Being close to Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan and others, it has been termed the Golden Gate to these landlocked countries.