With Iran's Chabahar port, India opens a diplomatic shortcut to Afghanistan

India has committed $500 million to the Chabahar port that it is building as a way to bypass rival Pakistan and crack open a route to Afghanistan.

India is in talks with Iran to begin interim operations at a port in southeast Iran, officials say, proceeding cautiously on developing the facility at a time when the Trump administration has laid an aggressive new approach toward Tehran.

India has committed $500 million to the Chabahar port that it is building as a way to bypass rival Pakistan and crack open a trade and transport route to landlocked Afghanistan, as well as the resource-rich countries of central Asia.

New Delhi plans to send seven shipments of wheat to Afghanistan through Chabahar by the end of January. A first shipment arrived last