Jairam Ramesh flags zero allocation for Chabahar in Union Budget, calls it “strategic setback” to Central Asia outreach amid US-Israel-Iran conflict

New Delhi : Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday criticised the Union government over the handling of the Chabahar Port project and claimed that the initiative launched during the previous Congress-led government had been repackaged as a new policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also once again questioned the absence of a budgetary allocation for the project in the Union Budget 2026-27. In a post on X, Ramesh said continuity in governance was an important principle that, according to him, had not been acknowledged by the present government. “Continuity in governance is an essential reality that is never acknowledged by the self-obsessed prime minister,” Ramesh wrote.
The Congress leader said India had begun exploring investment opportunities in the Chabahar port as part of a trilateral cooperation strategy involving India, Iran and Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
According to Ramesh, the plan received renewed momentum after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the 16th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran. He said that in May 2013, the Union Cabinet approved an initial investment of USD 115 million for the project.
Ramesh also pointed out that the decision came at a time when India was implementing the India-United States Civil Nuclear Agreement, which had been signed in October 2008.
The Congress MP further said that uncertainty surrounding the future of the Chabahar project could affect India’s outreach to Central Asia, particularly in view of China’s presence at the nearby Gwadar Port.
“Subsequently, in October 2014, the Modi Govt, like it is always prone to do, repackaged Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Chabahar initiative and passed it off as part of Mr. Modi’s vision. There was no allocation for Chabahar in the 2026/27 Budget. Does this mean that India has exited or that its investment commitments for the time being have been fulfilled? In any case, Chabahar, which is about 170 kms west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port built by China, is now not on the horizon. This is a second strategic setback to India’s Central Asian diplomacy, coming as it does after India’s closure of its air force base in Ayni near Dushanbe in Tajikistan,” he said.
India had proposed the development of Chabahar port in 2003 to create an alternative route for Indian goods to reach landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia. The plan was linked to the International North-South Transport Corridor and aimed to bypass Pakistan through road and rail connectivity.
However, progress on the project slowed in the past due to United States sanctions imposed on Iran.