As Trump goes after Iran, India’s Chabahar port allocation comes down to zero

As US President Donald Trump has intensified sanctions and military pressure on Iran, India’s allocation for Chabahar port —its gateway to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and beyond— has dropped to zero in the Budget 2026-27.

In a sharp contrast to 2025-26, when the grant to the Chabahar port was increased from Rs 100 crore to Rs 400 crore, the Budget 2026-27 cut the grant to zero.

Last year,
Trump’s sanctions on the Chabahar port went into effect in September. The next month, the India secured a six-month waiver that’s set to expire in April.

While the Narendra Modi government has said it’s in talks with the Trump administration for an extension of the waiver, there is no assurance — and Trump’s deployment of warships and fighter planes to West Asia amid
near-daily threats of an attack do not indicate a softening of the approach to Iran.

Budgetary allocation to Chabahar port development in Iran:

Since 2015, India has spent around Rs 1,100 crore into the Chabahar port. The idea of the port serving as India’s gateway to Afghanistan and to Central Asia as beyond —bypassing Pakistan to access these strategic regions— first emerged in early 2000s and materialised in 2015 when India and Iran reached an agreement.

In 2018, Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 but granted India waiver about the Chabahar port even as he pursued the maximum pressure strategy against Iran. Between 2021-25, former President Joe Biden continued granting waivers to India. But, in his second term, Trump restored Chabahar-related sanctions on India and only granted a waiver weeks after sanctions went into effect.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of External Affairs
said the government was in touch with the Trump administration to secure an extension to the waiver.

“As you are aware, the sanctions waiver we have received is valid until April 26, 2026. We are in discussions with the US side to work within this framework,” said MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Trump’s approach to Iran is only one of the several policies that have directly undermined India and its positions.

For one, Trump has slapped 50 per cent tariffs on India — the highest in the world. Additionally,
he has undermined India on Operation Sindoor, violated all red lines on Kashmir, and partnered with Pakistan and backed jihadists from West Asia to Central Asia. He has also cut a deal with China and weakened the hands of partners in the Indo-Pacific to tackle China’s aggressive actions.