The United States has given India a six-month sanctions waiver to run the Iranian port of Chabahar, India said on Thursday.
The move aims to boosting New Delhi’s effort to enhance trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries and bypasses its rival Pakistan.
India signed a 10-year contract with Iran last year to develop and operate the port and this month stepped up its ties with Taliban-run Afghanistan by reopening its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Islamist group seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.
ALSO SEE: Trump Cuts US Tariffs to 47%, Xi Vows to Ease Rare Earth Curbs
The port on Iran’s southeastern Gulf of Oman coast was initially planned with a rail link to Afghanistan for building the landlocked country’s economy through trade and reducing Kabul’s dependence on the Pakistani port of Karachi.
The waiver move follows comments by US President Donald Trump this week that he wants to reach a trade deal with India – signalling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after he doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as punishment for Indian purchases of Russian oil.
Indian refiners are now cutting Russian oil imports following Washington’s imposition last week of sanctions on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.
“I can confirm that we have been granted an exemption for a six-month period,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly news briefing, referring to the port.
He also said India was continuing talks with the Trump administration on a bilateral trade deal.
Washington had last month revoked the sanctions waiver for Chabahar, initially granted in 2018, as part of its effort to put “maximum pressure” on Iran to counter what it called the Islamic Republic’s destabilising activities in support of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
An Indian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US sanctions waiver had taken effect on Wednesday.
The US embassy in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
ALSO SEE:
US Sanctions Force Indian, Chinese Refiners to Cut Russian Oil
Oil and Gas Firms, Governments Silent on Methane Leaks, UN Says
India, US To Hold Talks Amid Heated Rhetoric From Washington
India Now Aiming To Finalise Trade Deal With US By November
India’s Modi ‘Avoiding Trump’s Phone Calls’ As Tariffs Hit: Reports
Trump’s 50% Tariffs on Indian Imports Hits Jobs, Bilateral Ties
India to Overhaul its GST, Slash Levies on Small Cars, Electronics
India’s Modi Joins Xi-Putin Push For Global South-Led World Order
India To Get China Rare Earths As Trump Tariffs Bring Rivals Close
Trump’s Tariffs Spur Calls to Boycott American Goods in India
India Wants US Ties With Mutual Respect, Says Arms Deals Still On
Trump Ramps Criticism of India: ‘Backing ‘Russian War Machine’
