Despite the overwhelming pressure from the United States, India is planning to make the strategic Chabahar Port operational by 2019, India’s Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said during his official visit to Tajikistan.

On the sidelines of a global conference on ‘International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development’, Gadkari said his government is committed to the ambitious project. “India is trying to make Chabahar Port in Iran operational by 2019,” said the minister in a statement. “Opening up of the Chabahar Port will make the CIS countries more accessible.”
Donald Trump’s decision to re-impose economic sanctions on Iran, according to observers, will not affect India’s plans to develop the strategic port of Chabahar. India is developing the Chabahar Port as a transport corridor to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Some Indian officials visited Iran last month to expedite the project and identify a local operator for managing the first phase of the port as part of an interim arrangement amid Trump’s decision to re-impose draconian sanctions on Iran.
India signed a short-term lease to start interim operations for the port, as part of the agreement inked during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s first state visit to India in February