External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that the Chabahar Port in Iran will benefit the entire region and that people should avoid taking a "narrow view" of it. Jaishankar's statement came a day after the US State Department warned of "potential risk of sanctions" after India signed a 10-year agreement for running the Chabahar Port in Iran.
Jaishankar also mentioned that the US had previously appreciated the relevance of the Chabahar Port in the past.
Speaking at the launch of the Bangla edition of his book 'Why Bharat Matters' in Kolkata, Jaishankar said, "I did see some of the remarks which were made, but I think it's a question of communicating, convincing and getting people to understand, that this is actually for everyone's benefit. I don't think people should take a narrow view of it."
He added, "They have not done so in the past. So, if you look at the US' own attitude towards the port in Chabahar, the US has been appreciative of the fact that Chabahar has a larger relevance... we will work at it."
US State Department on Chabahar Port deal
The US State Department on Tuesday warned that any entity considering business deals with Iran needs to be aware of the "potential risk of sanctions." The US State Department, however, mentioned that Washington DC will let New Delhi speak on its foreign policy goals.
"I would just say...US sanctions on Iran remain in place and we will continue to enforce them," the US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at the press briefing. He added: "Any entity, anyone considering business deals with Iran, they need to be aware of the potential risk they are opening themselves up to, potential risk of sanctions."
Jaishankar on why Chabahar Port deal took so long
The External Affairs Minister also elaborated on why the Chabahar Port deal took so long to materialise. Jaishankar said that India was associated with the project but was not able to sign a long-term pact as there were various challenges at the Iranian end.
"We have had a long association with the Chabahar Port, but we could never sign a long-term agreement. The reason was... there were various problems on the Iranian end... the joint-venture partner changes, the condition changed," he said. He added that finally, New Delhi was able to sort out these issues and the long-term agreement was signed.