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Minus Afghanistan angle, India loses bargaining power with Iran for Chabahar

If New Delhi eschews business with the Taliban, it will have to do business on Iran's terms to develop Chabahar port

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (pictured) at the inauguration of the newly built extension of the port of Chabahar, near the Pakistani border, on the Gulf of Oman, in southeastern Iran, on Sunday
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File photo of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at Chabahar port

Subhomoy Bhattacharjee New Delhi
India may now find it even more difficult to retain Iran's Chabahar port on its terms. The strongest backer of the Iranian port from India’s point of view was the Afghanistan government, which needed the facility and the associated railway line to its border town of Zahedan to import LPG, diesel, food and medicines. Those requirements still exist but the government there has melted away. 

While India describes Chabahar port in its internal documents as the “Country's first overseas port project with strategic objectives”, if it has to retain its immediate business viability, it will need the US government to