India, a major oil importer of Iranian oil, has ruled out implementing the U.S. sanction against Tehran as New Delhi fortifies its relations with Russia and works out a rapprochement with China, the two regional powers.
New Delhi has made it clear in its latest remarks that India would not follow President Donald Trump’s decision of limiting trade with Iran in view of sanctions Washington has re-imposed after pulling out of the nuclear deal.
India also does not agree with the American assessment that Iran has violated the nuclear deal.
India’s purchase of Iranian oil is estimated to have nearly doubled from 320,000 barrels per day on an average in 2011 to 620,000 in April 2018, according to a media report.
China with current estimates of an average 700,000 barrels per day is the largest buyer of Iranian oil.
Reciprocating Iranian reach out Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India was not pressurized by the United States over Iran.
“India only follows sanctions by the United Nations and not by any specific country,” she explained.
Ms. Swaraj made it clear that New Delhi’s position was independent of any other country.
“India follows only U.N. sanctions, and not unilateral sanctions by any country like the U.S.,” she said at a news conference.
India and Iran have long-standing political and economic ties, with Iran being one of India’s top oil suppliers.
Presently, the trade volume between India and Iran is about US 13 billion which they want to jack up to US $ 200 billion during next 20 years , mainly due to the Chahbahar Port that is being developed by India in a bid to bypass Pakistan.
India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a tripartite agreement last year, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran, to develop the Chabahar port into a transit hub.
India has committed to a $500 million investment for the port, a move which experts say is also aimed at undercutting China’s growing political and strategic influence in the Gulf region.
But India has also close ties with the United States, and has over the years benefited greatly from American investment. But last week Modi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it is conducting its foreign policy in accordance with changing geopolitical realities – a reference to China and Russia expanding their influence and the U.S. sanctions against Tehran being against Indian interests.
New Delhi has also been trying to encircle Pakistan from Afghanistan in order to expand its own influence in the region and pressurize Islamabad.
