Pakistan Offers US Port Deal Near India’s Chabahar in Bid to Reset Ties.
Pakistan has pitched a proposal to US President Donald Trump to build and run a deep-water port on the Arabian Sea, strategically located near India’s Chabahar project in Iran.
According to the Financial Times, advisers to Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have approached senior US officials with the $1.2 billion offer. The proposed facility would be built at Pasni, a coastal town in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, just 300 km from Chabahar.
Under the blueprint, Washington would develop and operate a civilian terminal at Pasni to access Pakistan’s untapped reserves of critical minerals. The plan rules out military use, but seeks US funding for a rail link connecting the port with mineral-rich western provinces.
The push follows Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s September meeting with Trump at the White House, where Pakistan showcased its mineral wealth. Images of Munir presenting Trump with a wooden box containing rare earth samples went viral online. Soon after, a US metals company signed a $500 million deal to jointly explore strategic minerals in Pakistan.
Islamabad, sidelined during the Biden years, is now courting Trump by offering access to its oil, gas, and minerals in Balochistan. Pasni, located just 100 km from the China-run Gwadar port, could also give the US a new foothold in the Arabian Sea and Central Asia.
For India, the proposal carries clear strategic implications. New Delhi has invested heavily in Chabahar, where it signed a 10-year agreement in 2024 to develop and operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal, aimed at bypassing Pakistan to access Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Whether Washington bites remains uncertain, but Pakistan’s offer highlights the geopolitical balancing act between the US, China, Iran, and India in the region.
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