beggingwalker
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The world's most notorious theocracy is desperately looking for a friend with deep pockets. It has found an unlikely candidate: the world's biggest democracy.
India surpassed China last month to become the Islamic Republic of Iran's biggest customer for crude oil, undermining sanctions by the U.S. and European Union to starve the mullahs of oil revenue. Ties between Delhi and Tehran also came into focus after Israel blamed Iran for a terrorist attack on one of its diplomats in New Delhi Monday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government promptly began an investigation, but the question is why he hasn't already curtailed dealings with the Islamic Republic.
Instead, Mr. Singh is building new bridges. Last week, the Iranian ambassador to India said that New Delhi had proposed a trade agreement to circumvent sanctions, which an Indian trade official later publicly confirmed. The usual way Tehran is paid for its oil in international markets in dollars has been disrupted, so New Delhi will now pay for 45% of its crude oil imports in rupees. Other reports suggest it will also barter wheat.
Adding to this lifeline, India's Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar announced a trade delegation to Iran at the end of the month. The plan is to market Indian products that Tehran can buy with its rupees. While other international companies are walking away from Iran for fear of sanctions or reputational damage, Mr. Khullar said he doesn't want to give up this "business opportunity."
New Delhi justifies this as necessary commerce. India is heavily dependent on oil imports, 11% of which it gets from Iran. Indian officials say this figure has come down in the last two or three years, and that last month's surge in Indian purchases of Iranian crude was a blip. Yet five years ago Iran still supplied 11% of India's oil needs.
The puzzle is why New Delhi hasn't tried harder to find other energy sources. This isn't impossible: Japan has brought down its dependence on Iran in the last five years and is promising to do more. Mr. Singh doesn't even seem to be pressing Tehran for price discountsIranian crude is about to become a distressed asset, if it isn't alreadywhich would at least lower the mullahs' revenue.
So it's business as usual for India, no matter the risks. Mr. Khullar said this month's trade delegation will dutifully promote goods not proscribed by the United Nations. But the U.N. sanctions lists had to get Russian and Chinese approval; the U.S. and EU embargoes go well beyond U.N. requirements. Mr. Khullar told reporters, "If Europe and the U.S. believe they wish to sanction exports of a large number of items to that country, that is their choice. But for us we shall continue business."
No one's accusing India of ideological kinship with the mullahs. Mr. Singh's government has said that it doesn't want a nuclear Iran and has voted against Tehran in the International Atomic Energy Agency. Yet now he's effectively enabling those nuclear ambitions by failing to stand with the coalition of nations trying to force Tehran to change course. While other liberal democracies agree about the Iranian nuclear threat, New Delhi apparently only sees pushy Westerners telling it what to do.
Some of this is mental baggage from the days of the Non-Aligned Movement, though we thought New Delhi had outgrown that adolescent neurosis. The real question for India is whether it is prepared to take its place as a responsible keeper of the world order. Or does it prefer to cast its lot, for the sake of a handful of rupees, with the spoilers of Moscow and Beijing?
Review & Outlook: Iran's Indian Enablers - WSJ.com
India surpassed China last month to become the Islamic Republic of Iran's biggest customer for crude oil, undermining sanctions by the U.S. and European Union to starve the mullahs of oil revenue. Ties between Delhi and Tehran also came into focus after Israel blamed Iran for a terrorist attack on one of its diplomats in New Delhi Monday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government promptly began an investigation, but the question is why he hasn't already curtailed dealings with the Islamic Republic.
Instead, Mr. Singh is building new bridges. Last week, the Iranian ambassador to India said that New Delhi had proposed a trade agreement to circumvent sanctions, which an Indian trade official later publicly confirmed. The usual way Tehran is paid for its oil in international markets in dollars has been disrupted, so New Delhi will now pay for 45% of its crude oil imports in rupees. Other reports suggest it will also barter wheat.
Adding to this lifeline, India's Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar announced a trade delegation to Iran at the end of the month. The plan is to market Indian products that Tehran can buy with its rupees. While other international companies are walking away from Iran for fear of sanctions or reputational damage, Mr. Khullar said he doesn't want to give up this "business opportunity."
New Delhi justifies this as necessary commerce. India is heavily dependent on oil imports, 11% of which it gets from Iran. Indian officials say this figure has come down in the last two or three years, and that last month's surge in Indian purchases of Iranian crude was a blip. Yet five years ago Iran still supplied 11% of India's oil needs.
The puzzle is why New Delhi hasn't tried harder to find other energy sources. This isn't impossible: Japan has brought down its dependence on Iran in the last five years and is promising to do more. Mr. Singh doesn't even seem to be pressing Tehran for price discountsIranian crude is about to become a distressed asset, if it isn't alreadywhich would at least lower the mullahs' revenue.
So it's business as usual for India, no matter the risks. Mr. Khullar said this month's trade delegation will dutifully promote goods not proscribed by the United Nations. But the U.N. sanctions lists had to get Russian and Chinese approval; the U.S. and EU embargoes go well beyond U.N. requirements. Mr. Khullar told reporters, "If Europe and the U.S. believe they wish to sanction exports of a large number of items to that country, that is their choice. But for us we shall continue business."
No one's accusing India of ideological kinship with the mullahs. Mr. Singh's government has said that it doesn't want a nuclear Iran and has voted against Tehran in the International Atomic Energy Agency. Yet now he's effectively enabling those nuclear ambitions by failing to stand with the coalition of nations trying to force Tehran to change course. While other liberal democracies agree about the Iranian nuclear threat, New Delhi apparently only sees pushy Westerners telling it what to do.
Some of this is mental baggage from the days of the Non-Aligned Movement, though we thought New Delhi had outgrown that adolescent neurosis. The real question for India is whether it is prepared to take its place as a responsible keeper of the world order. Or does it prefer to cast its lot, for the sake of a handful of rupees, with the spoilers of Moscow and Beijing?
Review & Outlook: Iran's Indian Enablers - WSJ.com
What you guys make out of this frustration? India is not giving up Iran to someone else and I am sure after few years the same west will come to India for negotiation with Iran. Till than enjoy the frustration. lol
