New Delhi: India’s decision not to allocate any funds this year for Iran’s Chabahar port project was disappointing for both New Delhi and Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told news outlet India Today.
He projected the port as a “golden gateway” that could have transformed India’s connectivity to Central Asia and Europe. When asked whether the budgetary cuts to the jointly developed project were a disappointment, Araghchi said, “Well, I think it’s a disappointment for both Iran and India.”
“Chabahar, as Prime Minister Modi once said, is a golden gate that connects the Indian Ocean area to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and then to Europe — and vice versa. It is a very strategic port. If fully developed, it can play a very important role in connecting India through Iran to Central Asia, to the Caucasus, and then to Europe,” the Iranian minister said.
The Chabahar Port project is a strategic port being developed by India at Chabahar in southeastern Iran, aimed at creating a direct trade and transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia while bypassing Pakistan.
However, amid renewed tensions between the US and Iran, this year’s Union Budget marks the first time in years with no allocation for the project.
