NEW DELHI:

The US has granted India a six-month sanctions waiver to operate the Iranian port of Chabahar, India said on Thursday, boosting New Delhi's effort to enhance trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries bypassing its rival Pakistan.

India signed a 10-year contract with Iran last year to develop and operate the port and this month stepped up its ties with Taliban-run Afghanistan by reopening its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Islamist group seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces.

The port on Iran's southeastern Gulf of Oman coast was initially planned with a rail link to Afghanistan for building the landlocked country's economy through trade and reducing Kabul's dependence on Karachi Port.

The waiver move followed word by US Presid

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