With the withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the imposition of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including in the field of financial and transportation transactions, it was likely that India's investment in the development of the Chabahar port on .the coast of Makran under the influence of these sanctions would be stopped

Because of the importance of this port for India and Afghanistan, US exempted Chabahar from this sanctions .following the talks between these two countries with US officials

In order to investigate this issue as well as inquire about the importance of this port in the macro regional .equations, Eastern Iran interviewed

 Rajiv Narayanan. he is an expert in military and strategic affairs of India. Narayanan has served as the Defence Attaché in the Embassy of India Dushanbe, Tajikistan during the turbulent period post 9/11 from Oct 2003 to Mar 2007. An avid China watcher for nearly two decades, his areas of interest areas include China, South and Central Asia, Indo -Pacific Region, and Future World Order & Regional Multilateralism. Narayanan is a member of The United Service Institution of India which is a well-established and accredited think tank based in New Delhi. He has a large number of articles and papers published in Indian Journals, book and magazines .(including web editions

 
.The text of this conversation is as follows
 

Question: What is the geopolitical importance of Chabahar Port for India? Given to the India's growing .economy, what is Delhi's strategy towards this port

 

 Ans.:  Chabahar provides India with connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia circumventing an intransigent Pakistan. It also provides Afghanistan with an alternate outlet to the Arabian Sea and prevents Pakistan from arm-twisting it. India is very keen to develop this port, and the transfer of the functioning of these berths under Indian control would greatly facilitate its operationalization. It would benefit all countries of the region - .Iran, Afghanistan and the Central Asian States
What is the role of Chabahar Port in improving the India’s regional position? Given to the rivalries that exist ..between the regional powers, how this port can affect the India – China competition

Ans.: India prefers not to view geo-politics from the prism of a zero-sum game as it does not benefit the countries in the region. It looks at cooperation and positive competition that would enable development and growth in the region. The problem faced is by an intransigent Pakistan that denies connectivity to Afghanistan .and Central Asia with India in its ‘zero-sum game’ approach
Here, the Chabahar Port provides Afghanistan and the Central Asian States an alternate option for development. For the Central Asian states it can provide an alternate narrative to the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) for growth, to choose from. Here India emerges as the source for this alternate narrative, albeit with .the assistance of other like-minded developed countries of the region and external powers
India’s outreach to China has been always for consensus and cooperation rather than to compete and contest, in the larger interest for the region. Post Wuhan Talks there does appear to be a new modus vivendi emerging in this direction. A healthy completion is good for the region, while negativity leads to a zero sum game that .goes from contest to conflict, which is detrimental for the region as a whole
.Iran thus has a major role to play in this new modus vivendi

 Question: In spite of United States’ efforts to implement a full sanction against Tehran, Washington has .exempted India from this sanctions. Why US agreed to grant India waiver from Chabahar Port sanctions
 
Ans.: Geo-politically, this port is very critical for the Central Asian States and Afghanistan. Also, as per the USA’s latest policy on Afghanistan, it has desired for greater economic participation by India, which would not be feasible without access to the region circumventing intransigent Pakistan. As such, despite its stand against .Iran, USA has given this special waiver to India
 
Question: How has Delhi-Washington's strategic relations been effective in this decision? Given to US competition with China, has the balancing role of Chabahar against the Gwadar port contributed to the exception of this port from sanctions? What is the importance of Central Asia for US so that, according to you, one of the reasons for this exception has been Central Asia countries? Have Central Asian countries, or some of .them, withdrawn from the Russian Bloc
 
 Ans.: Not just the US and Indian strategic relations, but also the US and Afghan relations has played a major .role in grant of this waiver
The geo-strategic role and importance of both Chabahar and Gwadar are very divergent; hence comparison .appears to be as comparing ‘chalk with cheese’
Gwadar port is for the sole use of China for its economic outreach to Africa – movement of raw material from Africa to its SEZs in Kashghar (being established) and Khordos, both in Sinkiang, and export of finished goods from these SEZs to the African markets. Its development of ports on the East Coast of Africa has also been .strategized accordingly
Chabahar on the other hand is for the economic development and growth of Afghanistan and Central Asia. It .also provides them with an alternate narrative to the BRI
USA has for long been dependent on Pakistan for its logistic support to its forces in Afghanistan. However, since their long term interests no longer coincide it is rather averse to being forced to be dependent on Pakistan. Chabahar provides them with an alternate logistics route for USA and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Concurrently, it also provides them an outreach to Central Asia that is not dependent on either Turkey or .Russia
The Central Asian countries have not withdrawn from the Russian Bloc. However, other than Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan the rest have not yet joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).  With Chabahar and the alternate .narrative that it provides, Central Asia and also Russia could stand to benefit in the medium to long term

 Question: The Afghan government has also announced that it has consulted Washington in the past few months to make that decision. As a rival to Karachi Port, where Chabahar Port stands in Afghan strategic .calculations
 
Ans.: The Afghans are not too happy with the terrorism that emanates from Pakistan and do not have faith that it would abide by any treaty, in letter and spirit. As such they are very wary of being dependent only on Karachi Port. Afghans have faith in Iran and India and so Chabahar Port is very crucial to them and stands way .above Karachi port, despite a difference of additional 400kms
 
Presently the core interests of both India and USA coincide at many levels in the region. As such both countries share good relations and USA considers India as its strategic ally. It looks at India as a bulwark of the liberal-.democratic model for sustainable growth
The issue with Iran that the US has is at a different level – it looks at Iran from the perspective of its outreach in West Asia and North Africa. Since both Afghanistan and Central Asia need an alternate narrative to China’s BRI, which India and other like-minded countries can provide through Chabahar, hence US has given this .waiver
It is over the last decade plus that the USA and Indian interests in the region have coincided in many areas. As such the relationship is deepening; however, India prefers its strategic autonomy on many issues. Despite that, the relationship is deepening every year as both have managed to overcome their differences and have moved .ahead
 
 Question: How do you evaluate the role and importance of Chabahar Port for other countries including landlocked countries in Central Asia region? And can this port play a role in activating The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
 
Ans.: Chabahar can play a very significant role for the landlocked countries of Central Asia, and can also be utilised for actualising the INSTC. For the Central Asian countries this would be the shortest route to the Indian .Ocean / Arabian Sea and greatly facilitate in developing their economy
 
The INSTC currently runs via India - Bandar Abbas Port (Iran) – Azerbaijan – Russia. However, due to the instable relations between USA and Iran, this route has not fructified. By utilising the Chabahar Port, this trade route can be operationalized, albeit via Central Asia. This will also synchronize with the Ashgabat agreement, the Multimodal transport agreement signed for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf
Analysts predict by having improved transport connectivity between Russia, Central Asia, Iran and India their respective bilateral trade volumes could increase. A study conducted by the 'Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) www.fffai.org found that the route is 30% cheaper and 40% shorter than the .current traditional route
 
 Question: Is Russia’s inclination more towards Chabahar Port or Gwadar Port? Is there any potential for Russia .to cooperate in this Port
 
Ans.: Russia would prefer the Chabahar Port over Karachi, considering the internal dynamics of Pakistan and its support to non-state actors as a state policy.  Further, Chabahar is closer and better oriented for INSTC. It would also provide it a better outlet for its Oil & Gas exports to the countries in the Indian Ocean region
Russia’s honeymoon with China has more to do with the problems it is facing along its Western Flank, with EU and USA. It is not comfortable with growing outreach by a revisionist China in the regions that it terms as ‘near .abroad’ with its BRI
Chabahar would facilitate India’s outreach into this region, an outreach that it welcomes as India is not revisionist and values its strategic relations with Russia. Russia would be more comfortable with India than .China in its ‘near abroad’
Russia looks at Pakistan with concern as it is worried about the terrorism that it spreads as a state policy – an asymmetric response to retain geo-strategic space. Its fears the spread of the same to Central Asia and the Caucasus. The current outreach with Pakistan has more to do to with being able to counter this spread
As such, Russia would not prefer any trade corridor via Karachi. With Iran and India as its strategic partners, .Russia would prefer the INSTC via India and Iran