Iran has already facilitated India with a route to Afghanistan and Central Asia via the Port of Chabahar. On completion, Chabahar port will be connected with INSTC. This is known as India, Iran and Afghanistan corridor which will give India an alternative sea and land route to Afghanistan. Iran’s objective is to strengthen its position in Central Asia to counter Saudi and Turkish influence. During the time of Ashraf Ghani in Afghanistan, India constructed a 218-kilometer long Zaranj-Delaram Highway worth $150 million. The highway connects Kandahar in the South, Ghazni and Kabul in the East, Mazar-i-Sharif in the North and Herat in the West. At that time the objective of this project was to counter and bypass Pakistan to link Central Asian Republics for trade and linking it with Chabahar port. Another objective was to reduce Kabul’s dependence on the Karachi port and to allow India to ship its goods to Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics.
At present despite India’s best efforts to influence Central Asian Republics, it has not succeeded. China has great influence over the Central Asian Republics, so India has little room to work its charm. Pakistan and Uzbekistan have planned a 600-kilometer railway corridor from Termez in South Uzbekistan through Mazar-e-Sharif, Kabul, Peshawar to the Pakistan ports of Arabian Sea. Besides, Pakistan provides the shortest energy corridor to republics and can have access to Central Asian markets.
The new corridor is also being viewed as India’s answer to the Chinese Belt and Road initiative (BRI). India has concerns over CPEC and is attempting to sabotage the project while trying to counter Chinese influence in Central Asia. The new corridor has connected Russia with the Gulf region, the Indian Ocean and Europe. Iran is facilitating Indian interest as New Delhi is investing $635 million to develop Chabahar port with direct access to Indian Ocean. The port of Chabahar is 300 kilometers from Gwadar port as India sees Gwadar as part of Chinese encirclement of India. The new corridor (INSTC) has provided India access to Baltic, Nordic and Arctic region. In the INSTC, all the members less India are members of BRI. Pakistan can also benefit from the corridor if Gwadar is linked with Chabahar and Zahedan from Taftan through railway line to connect with Europe. It is up to the government of Pakistan to take a decision in this regard. The success of INSTC is linked with the continuation of sanctions on both Iran and Russia. Any further sanctions may jeopardize the success of entire corridor.