Govt assessing if Chabahar may have spillover effects

Officials say legal consultations on, solution will be worked out

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA

The government is assessing the possible spillover effects of the US administration’s decision to sanction entities operating the Chabahar Port on India’s ambitious bid to run foreign port terminals, multiple officials in the know said.

India Ports Global (IPGL), which operates the Shahid Beheshti Terminal at the Iranian port, is also part of the Bharat Global Ports consortium launched by Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in February to bid for overseas port projects.

“The government is currently in legal consultations to ascertain the possibility of US sanctions on IPGL, but more importantly, the consultations will focus on whether these sanctions, if there, will also apply to the Bharat Global Ports Consortium and the Sagarmala Finance Company by extension,” a government official said.