Chabahar port: Between the dragon and the deep sea

Dramatic shifts in West Asian geo-strategic realities have complicated India's participation in Iran's recently inaugurated Chabahar deep-sea port

With a commitment to build two container berths and three multi-cargo berths at Chabahar port, India has stepped into the quicksand of West Asia oil politics. With an eventually $500 million commitment to develop the port with road and rail links, this is no tentative step. Chabahar offers India a vital route to Afghanistan and land-locked central Asia that bypasses Pakistan. Yet last week, when Iran inaugurated this deep-sea port, India had but a token presence.

Down south, Sri Lanka handed over its Hambantota port to China on a 99-year lease much more dramatically. India could only send its lightweight minister