Iran To Promote Chabahar As Curbs Will Hit Main Port

Global meet on February 26 to project potential.

- Suhasini Haidar

With U.S. sanctions threatening Iran’s main port of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian government is planning to promote the Chabahar port being developed by India in a major conference on February 26, highlighting the potential of the Indian Ocean port beyond India-Afghan trade alone.

India is sending an official delegation to the event led by the Shipping Ministry, where about 200 guests from 35 countries have been invited, officials said.

The event will also bring into focus a tightrope India must walk, with the U.S. tensions with Iran on one side, in order to achieve the triple aims of trade with Afghanistan, by passing Pakistan and posing a counter to the China­-Pakistan developed Gwadar port nearby

Focal point

“The government of Iran wants to build Chabahar as the focal point with the entire coastline of 1,000 kilo­ metres to be developed for oil reneries, petrochemi­ cal and steel factories, and other projects,” the newly appointed Iranian Ambas­ sador to India Ali Chegeni told The Hindu in an exclusive interview. “We want to promote Chabahar as a hub where big ships can enter, offload to smaller ships that can go easily to other ports as well.”