Amid the hostile environment between Pakistan and India, a major development has occurred in the region. Afghanistan began exports to India through the Iranian Chabahar port on February 24, exploring new avenues for economic restructuring. As per reports, 23 trucks carrying 57 tonnes of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products were dispatched from the western Afghan city of Zaranj to Chabahar port. This is a development of seismic proportions that demands detailed scrutiny and introspection. A year ago on February 17, India and Iran signed a short-term lease of the first phase of Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar. Under the agreement, Iran leased a part of the area of the multipurpose container for 18 months to India so that it could take over operations of existing port facilities in the first phase of the port development project. India has committed $85 million for the development of the Shahid Beheshti Port. The Chabahar project in South-Eastern Iran is significant, as it gives a transit route between India, Iran and Afghanistan which bypasses Pakistan. The Chabahar port is located on the Makran coast of Sistan province, which lies next to the Gulf of Oman and at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Being close to Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states, it has been termed the “Golden Gate” to these land-locked countries. Modern Chabahar dates back to around 1970 when it was declared a municipality, and large port projects were started by order of the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah planned to construct a $600 million naval base at Chabahar, mostly employing American companies as contractors. It contains two separate ports called Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. Following the 1979 Revolution, however, foreign companies abandoned their projects and public Iranian companies linked to the Ministry of Jahad-e-Sazandegi (or jihad for construction) took over. Soon after, the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) caused Chabahar to gain logistical and strategic importance. War brought insecurity to the Strait of Hormuz and ships were unable to enter the Persian Gulf. Accordingly, Chabahar became a major port during the war. India visualises Chabahar as the gateway to a transit and transport corridor connecting India, Iran and Afghanistan. As far as India is concerned, it is a dream come true. In December 2017, an extension of the Chabahar port was inaugurated by the President of Iran. India can now bypass Pakistan in transporting goods to Afghanistan. For years, New Delhi has been trying to persuade Pakistan to allow it to transport goods to Afghanistan using the land route, i.e, through its soil into the landlocked country. New Delhi got Afghanistan included in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 2007 in a bid to ensure connectivity among all countries in South Asia and in the grouping was established, but Pakistan did not play ball. In 2010, when Pakistan and Afghanistan signed a connectivity pact on transit trade, it was expected that it would be extended to India to allow Indian goods to pass through Pakistan. But those hopes were belied when Pakistan refused to allow Afghan trucks to come up to the Indian border at Attari, Punjab, or take back Indian goods. In October 2017 though, India flagged off a shipment of wheat for Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port-marking the operationalisation of the port for the trans-shipment of goods from India to the landlocked country. This also means that Afghanistan will not need be dependent on Pakistan’s Karachi port alone for sending its goods out to global markets. With Chabahar port being developed and operated by India, it could be used as a point from where humanitarian operations could be coordinated, should the need arise. Thus, India has a huge expatriate population based in the Gulf-West Asia region and instability there in the past has resulted in New Delhi launching evacuation exercises for thousands of its nationals as well as other countries from the region. China has constructed Pakistan’s Gwadar port, which is less than 400 kilometres (KM) from Chabahar by road and 100 KM by sea. Gwadar is the third deep-sea port in Pakistan after Karachi and Port Qasim. Located on the western end of the Balochistan coastline, Gwadar has 600 KM long coastal belt with beaches and bays. Historically, it was purchased by Pakistan in 1958 from the Omani Sultanate at the cost of $3 million. During its construction phase, from 1988 to 1992, a small port was constructed. In 2007, President Musharraf inaugurated the port. From 2007-2012, Gwadar port remained under the Port Singapore Authority (PSA) but due to its poor performance, the port was handed over to the China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) in 2013. Since then, construction work has been done at a rapid pace. Gwadar port lies just 624 nautical KM to the east of Strait of Hormuz, which is an important route of oil tankers bound for Japan and western countries out of Persian Gulf. Gwadar will help Pakistan to monitor the Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) originating from the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Although some major exceptions have been granted to Chabahar port development, uncertainty regarding sanctions on Iran could undeniably have negative consequences for the India-Iran Chabahar deal. Gwadar has no such problems According to Gwadar port statistics, a twelve-monthly capacity of Gwadar port is about 300 to 400 million tonnes of cargo which is almost equivalent to India’s all ports annual volume. Whereas, the planned capacity of Chabahar is only 10-12 million tons of cargo yearly. Gwadar has 12 berths and the competing port of Chabahar has got only four berths. Gwadar, being a natural deep sea port, entails relatively less maintenance cost. Thus, Gwadar is the sole port in the region having the potential to receive 200,000 tonnes of supertankers. In comparison, Chabahar can only accept 20,000 tons. This is the first time India has plunged into a foreign port development venture with such vigor. Chabahar is also a geographical reach for New Delhi, since it is not in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) where India not only has several functional ports (Mumbai, Kolkata, and Goa) but has the shield of the Indian Navy as well. In Chabahar, India would be a guest state, whose borders and territorial waters are at a much greater distance. Moreover, the vessels transporting goods to Chabahar would also be subject to the active monitoring of the Pakistani Navy, which would keep a hawk-eyed watch on the high seas and adjacent international waters. After Chabahar in Iran, the next stop for Indian goods will be Afghanistan, and then subsequently to the Central Asian states. Although India has enjoyed cordial terms with the successive post-2001 governments of Afghanistan, the security situation is inadequate in major areas. Besides, the Taliban in Afghanistan has no love for India, since the latter historically supported the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. Furthermore, the prospect of the lifting of all sanctions on Iran is in doubt once more. Although some major exception has been granted to Chabahar port development, uncertainty regarding sanctions could undeniably have negative consequences for the India-Iran Chabahar deal. Gwadar has no such problems. There are no restrictions on China’s investment anywhere nor is Pakistan subject to any kind of United Nations (UN) sanctions. Furthermore, China holds veto powers on the UN Security Council – thus even in the case of a proposed resolution that could impact Gwadar, China could veto the move and continue its economic ventures with Pakistan. Despite enhanced Indo-Afghan diplomatic, political, and economic connections, Pakistan’s role and influence in Afghanistan has not withered. Though the central government of Afghanistan leans more toward India, Pakistan has social, religious, sectorial connections with several ethnic groups who represent a major portion of Afghan society. Pakistan could also see an India-Iran covert partnership to cause dysfunction in Gwadar, but Tehran would likely refrain as it is trying to pacify relations with its neighbors and the international community in the wake of the 2015 agreement. Any entanglement with Pakistan would also endanger the eastern border of Iran. Gwadar also has an advantage because there is no economic competition between Pakistan and China. Chinese investment in Pakistan is also aimed at boosting trade with the rest of Asia, and Pakistan won’t become a hurdle in China’s quest to reach the Middle East and Persian Gulf. That’s because Pakistan is currently on the receiving end of a huge Chinese investment and a Saudi oil refinery project. The infrastructural development at Gwadar at the CPEC in general will help Pakistan enhance trade with both China and the Middle East. However, the Iran-India dynamic is different. After the July 2015 agreement and recent re-sanctions from Washington, Tehran is trying its level best to come into the mainstream international arena by accelerating trade in order to put its jammed economic wheel back on track. Iran will not allow India’s Central Asian dream to come true at the cost of Iranian interests. According to common perceptions, Chabahar port is deemed as a rival to the Gwadar port and hence many are of the opinion that Pakistan must be geared against it. However, Pakistan is not concerned about Indo-Iranian bilateral ties unless it affects neighbouring ties. Thus, the opening of the port is a perfect example of how states can operate at multiple levels without completely embracing each other. While CPEC is a flagship of China’s OBOR initiative, it remains to be seen whether the Chabahar port can prove to be a linchpin of robust trade in the region and beyond. The writer has done MPA from Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS) Lahore Published in Daily Times, February 27th 2019.