New Delhi, India — Relations between the United States and India are at a crossroads yet again: this time, over New Delhi’s decade-long investment in Iran’s Chabahar Port.India’s most ambitious connectivity project in its extended neighbourhood now potentially faces a dead end after a US waiver on sanctions imposed on the project expired on Sunday, with no signs of its revival from Washington. The port has been the centrepiece of India’s hopes of building a trade and transit corridor with landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia.The US has been pressuring Iran’s economy towards collapse through an aggressive sanctions regime aimed at choking off its revenue streams, under its “maximum pressure” campaign.The latest is the naval blockade against Iran’s ports, while Tehran claims control over the Strait of Hormuz. India is heavily dependent on the narrow sea route for energy supply, and has been negotiating with Iran to secure passage.So is India’s Chabahar dream dead now? A security person looks on at oil docks at the port of Kalantari in Chabahar, 300km (186 miles) east of the Strait of Hormuz, January 17, 2012 [Raheb Homavandi/Reuters]What’s in Chabahar port for India?In southeastern Iran, perched on the Gulf of Oman, the Chabahar port comprises two terminals: Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. India has been involved in the Shahid Beheshti and has invested at least $120m in equipping it.The port has been hailed as a cornerstone of India’s economic and strategic ambitions over the last two decades, b …
