India-Iran ties in focus as 2-day visit begins

[EjazR]

India-Iran ties in focus as 2-day visit begins

In a major push to India-Iran relations, the Indian government is laying out the red carpet for Iranian minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, who will be in Delhi for a two-day visit, beginning Thursday. He is leading a 30-member delegation to attend the 16th session of the joint commission on July 8-9.

Besides attending the joint commission meeting co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in the capital, Hosseini will be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon during his visit. The delegation will be hosted by all three business chambers — FICCI, Assocham and CII — separately.

The visit comes in the backdrop of US sanctions on Iran, over which New Delhi has already expressed its concern.

India is expecting dividends as the Iranian minister is leading a delegation drawn from various departments straddling sectors from mines to civil aviation, science and technology, power, tourism, handicrafts and small industries.

One of the strong factors for engaging Iran is access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, apart from India’s energy interests. A few agreements in key sectors are expected to be inked. Hosseini is accompanied by Abdulmajid Aqiqi, who heads the International Agreements Department in Iranian President Mohammed Ahmedinejad’s office.

Sources said that the India-Iran Joint commission meeting, which will take place after more than a year-and-half, is showing signs of re-energising business relations.The two countries will also exchange notes on how to play a role in Afghanistan.

 

[EjazR]

Iran seeks investment pact, doubling of trade with India - Home - livemint.com

India and Iran are close to firming up a bilateral investment protection treaty to boost investments and trade between the two countries, visiting Iranian ministers said.

Shamsuddin Huseini, Iran’s minister of economic affairs and finance, who is in New Delhi leading a 30-member business delegation, said he would be finalizing the treaty with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee. He also said he expects trade between India and Iran, about $15 billion (Rs70,350 crore) now, to double over the next five years.

The bilateral pact is “almost finalised,” said a finance ministry official. The two sides also discussed the avoidance of double taxation, the official said, requesting anonymity.

India will be sending a banking delegation to explore investment and business opportunities in Iran, he added.

Huseini was speaking at a seminar organized by industry lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in the capital on Thursday.

He is here for a meeting of the India-Iran joint commission—a panel that explores ways to boost economic ties between the two countries.

The meeting comes after a gap of 16 months and is being seen as an effort by India to court the energy-rich Islamic republic with whom New Delhi has shared uneasy ties recently, after it voted to censure Iran on its nuclear programme at least twice at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The bilateral treaty will provide comprehensive support to the business between the two countries,” said Behrouz Alishiri, deputy minister of economic affairs and finance, Iran. “It is in final stage. Some formalities are to be completed by the Indian side. We have already received the official letter.”

Iran’s facing a fresh set of international economic sanctions for refusing to end its nuclear programme.

Ironically, India, which is heavily dependent on energy imports, this week criticised the “extra-territorial nature” of the censures—without naming the US—saying the sanctions would “have a direct and adverse impact on Indian companies” and on India’s energy security.

In a related development, Indian government officials have hinted that the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project is back in focus. Iran and Pakistan had decided to go ahead with the project without India, and have even extended a partnership offer to China.

Senior officials at India’s ministry of external affairs say the pipeline project was never abandoned; experts say India’s clinching of the civilian nuclear agreement with the US had slowed the process.

Huseini did not respond to questions posed by Mint on the pipeline project. Sanjay Singh, India’s ambassador to Iran, only said, “One should wait and watch. The statement made by Indian foreign secretary was a significant one.”

Earlier this week, India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had said it was natural to have differences but it was also vital that the two nations keep “the larger picture of our relations in mind, in particular the strategic potential of our ties.”

“There is a change. There are a host of other projects apart from IPI that Indian firms want to participate along with Iran. However, IPI was never out for us,” said a India petroleum ministry official, asking not to be identified.

Huseini invited Indian firms to invest in infrastructure, oil, gas, petrochemicals, mining, automobiles, transport, machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles and agriculture in Iran. He also promised to facilitate access for Indian firms to trade with landlocked Central Asia—Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia—besides Russia.