NEW DELHIinfo-icon: Indiainfo-icon is trying to make Chabahar Port in Iraninfo-icon operational by 2019, the government said in a statement on Friday, despite a threat of renewed USinfo-icon sanctions against Tehraninfo-icon.

The Indian-backed Chabahar port complex in Iran is being developed as part of a new transportation corridor for land-locked Afghanistaninfo-icon that could potentially open the way for millions of dollars in trade and cut its dependence on Pakistaninfo-icon, its sometimes-hostile neighbour.

The port would offer easy accessibility to CIS countries, Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said in the statement.

US President Donald Trumpinfo-icon's decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear deal and penalize financial institutions for doing businessinfo-icon with Tehran is clouding Chabahar's viability.