Afghanistan, Uzbekistan hopeful of Chabahar solution

Chabahar port's significance for landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia is gaining renewed focus, with the Taliban regime and Uzbekistan seeking to optimise the facility in Iran for their business outreach to India.

While India is exploring avenues to safeguard its interests in Chabahar after the US withdraws its sanctions waiver of the port, resource-rich Uzbekistan is hopeful that New Delhi would be able to continue running the port as a gateway for Central Asia to trade with the rest of the continent, ET has learnt.

Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, currently on a visit to India, is hopeful that Chabahar port will be a gamechanger for boosting India-Afghan trade.

Uzbekistan, guided by the principle of multipolarity, doesn't want to depend on a single connectivity corridor in Eurasia or China's Belt and Road Initiative, and is hoping that New Delhi will work to address concerns over the port, the people said.

Uzbekistan is a strategic partner for India in uranium supply. Tashkent has proposed to New Delhi joint development of uranium projects that would address requirements of India's civil nuclear energy sector. France is currently involved in joint uranium projects in Uzbekistan.