ISLAMABAD: Former President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and seasoned diplomat Sardar Masood Khan has said that the United States’ decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran’s strategically significant Chabahar Port, by withdrawing the waiver previously granted to India, represents another serious setback for New Delhi.
Speaking in a television interview, he explained that this move will negatively affect both Iran and India, but the blow to India will be particularly severe.
He added that the decision has also unmasked the duplicity of India, which while portraying itself as a close strategic partner of the U.S. and Western nations, was simultaneously conducting trade in oil and other commodities with Washington’s adversaries.
According to Sardar Masood, the U.S. administration has already imposed heavy tariffs on Indian exports, and now this step regarding Chabahar further complicates the situation for New Delhi.
He warned that India’s huge investment in the port project could sink, and its long-cherished ambition to bypass Pakistan in order to secure direct access to Afghanistan and Central Asia may never materialize.
He noted that President Donald Trump’s executive order clearly states that sanctions will not only target the Chabahar facility itself but also extend to the entities managing its operations, particularly India Ports Global Limited, which functions under India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.
Sardar Masood further alleged that the Chabahar Port initiative was founded on hostile intent from the very outset. Its objectives, he claimed, were twofold: to undermine Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and to provide India with a cover for establishing a base of espionage and terrorism against Pakistan.
He stated that during the recent Iran–Israel conflict, India exploited this espionage network against Tehran as well, which led Iranian authorities to arrest several Indian nationals.
He added that India had turned the port into a “double-edged sword” against both Iran and Pakistan, using it as a platform to orchestrate terrorist activities inside Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan.
Responding to a question regarding the U.S. decision to raise the H-1B visa fee to as high as $100,000, Sardar Masood remarked that this measure was also designed to penalize India. He pointed out that since the introduction of the H-1B program, 71 percent of recipients have been Indian nationals, the majority of whom are employed in the technology and service sectors of the U.S.
He added that Chinese nationals account for the second largest group, while Pakistani expatriates constitute only a small fraction. He underlined that President Trump’s policy aims to ensure that these high-value jobs remain with American citizens, preventing U.S. resources from being transferred abroad.
Addressing another question, the former AJK President observed that the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Chabahar could create opportunities for Pakistan and China, but only if Pakistan takes urgent steps to make the Gwadar Port fully operational.
He recalled that Pakistan’s Prime Minister had, in his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, identified Gwadar’s early operationalization as one of the government’s foremost priorities.
He also stressed that China, in particular, stands to gain from this development, since under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) it is actively seeking to establish a new corridor linking Central Asia to Iran.
To this end, Beijing has already extended to Tehran an investment offer worth $400 billion, which includes not only the construction of this corridor but also the development of two additional seaports and related infrastructure projects.
