India says US gives six-month waiver for Iran’s Chabahar to aid trade with Afghanistan
Assalamu alaikum - India announced on Thursday that the United States has given a six-month sanctions waiver to allow India to operate the Iranian port of Chabahar, a move meant to strengthen trade links with Afghanistan and Central Asian nations while avoiding Pakistan.
India had signed a 10-year agreement with Iran last year to develop and run the port. This month New Delhi also reopened its embassy in Kabul, renewing ties with the Taliban-run administration after it took control in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.
Chabahar, on Iran’s southeastern Gulf of Oman coast, was originally planned to include a rail connection to Afghanistan to help the landlocked country grow its economy by trade and lessen Kabul’s reliance on the Pakistani port of Karachi.
The waiver came after US President Donald Trump said earlier this week he wanted a trade deal with India - a sign of warming relations after tensions rose when he doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 percent over India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Indian refiners have begun reducing Russian oil imports after Washington last week imposed sanctions on Russia’s top crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.
"I can confirm that we have been granted an exemption for a six-month period," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said at a weekly briefing about the port. He added that India is continuing talks with the US on a bilateral trade deal.
Washington had revoked the Chabahar waiver last month; the waiver was first given in 2018 as part of previous arrangements. The US had cited pressure on Iran over what it described as Tehran’s destabilizing activities related to its nuclear and missile programs.
An Indian official, speaking anonymously, said the waiver took effect on Wednesday. The US embassy in New Delhi had not immediately commented.
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