Iran’s Zarif visits Delh, India sends first rice shipment via Chabahar
By Aditi BhaduriIndia will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope. It is widely believed that it may not be able to withstand US pressure this time around,
Photo: AP/Manish Swarup
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited New Delhi on 13-14 May, holding talks with his Indian counterpart Ms. Sushma Swaraj and with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The visit, which was planned at a short notice, came on the heels of the Iranian minister’s visit to Turkmenistan and Russia, and as part of his broader outreach to regional allies as tensions with the US ratcheted up. Walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that had been hammered out between the five permanent UN member, the EU, and Iran in 2015, the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
India is Iran’s second largest crude importer, and had availed of a sanctions’ waiver from the US, along with eight other countries. In April the US announced that it was not going to grant anymore sanctions waivers to countries like India, in order to pressure the Iranian regime to give up its nuclear and ballistic missiles program.
Trade between India and Iran had increased by almost $4 bln over the last one year, according to Iranian news agency IRNA.
On the eve of his departure to India, Zarif told the Iranian media that India was one of ‘Tehran’s close partners’ and ‘For this reason, we have always consultation with Indian partners in various fields that I will follow these consultations on this trip. ‘
India is the world’s third largest energy consumer and the Kingdome of Saudi Arabia has offered to help India tide over any shortfalls in its requirements resulting from decreasing oil imports from Iran. Under the waiver India could import up to 300,000 bpd of Iranian oil. However, till now, only one state owned refinery – Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals – has taken up the Saudi offer for additional crude supplies, reported Reuters.
In India Zarif reiterated that India was ‘one of our most important partners- economic, political & regional…..I’m here to have consultations with my counterpart on most recent developments in the region as well as our bilateral relations.’ ‘Unfortunately,’ he told the ANI news agency ‘…the United States has been escalating the situation unnecessarily. We do not seek escalation but we have always defended ourselves.
US sanctions have more than halved Iran’s oil exports to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) or less, from a peak of 2.8 million bpd last year, reported Reuters. Ratcheting up tensions further the US has also deployed B52 bombers in Qatar and an aircraft carrier towards the Persian Gulf as part of a military build-up to counter unspecified Iranian threats to ‘American interests’ in the region. Israeli energy minister Yuval Steinitz had on Sunday said that Iran may fire rockets at Israel.”
Iran has dismissed it as ‘psychological war’
In Delhi the minister held discussions on bilateral issues with Indian minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj. “Good exchange of views on the evolving regional situation, including Afghanistan,” the spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs tweeted after the meeting.
‘Just had excellent talks in Turkmenistan and India. Those who actually live in our fragile neighbourhood have a real national security interest in promoting peace, stability, cooperation and connectivity,’ Zarif wrote in his Twitter account on Tuesday, stressing ‘Iran remains a most accessible, efficient, sustainable and secure partner.’
India will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope. It is widely believed that it may not be able to withstand US pressure this time around, especially given the help rendered by the US to get Masood Azhar, the head of the Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, listed on the UN sanctions’ list. However, what is also being overlooked is the high stakes that India has in the Arab Gulf countries, who have also been batting to get US sanctions reimposed on Iran and the abrogation of the JCPOA.
Soon after the announcement of end of sanctions’ waiver, Indian energy minister had said the “Govt has put in place a robust plan for adequate supply of crude oil to Indian refineries. There will be additional supplies from other major oil producing countries; Indian refineries are fully prepared to meet the national demand for petrol, diesel & other Petroleum products,” in a tweet. In recent times India has diversified its energy procurement, sourcing them from countries like Nigeria and Venezuela, in a bid to decrease dependence on volatile West Asia.
Moreover, the country is in the throes of a parliamentary elections with results expected to be announced on the 23rd of this month, and no major decision can be expected from the incumbent government.
Meanwhile, a rice shipment from India is said to have arrived at Iran’s Chabahar port, destined for landlocked Afghanistan, last week, according to Khan Jan Alokazay, the deputy head of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Indiustries. Alokazay has also noted that this was the first Indian cargo sent to Afghanistan throught Chabahar port, which India has developed in Iran to boost regional connectivity.
Chabahar Port, lying along the Sea of Oman, is considered as a gateway to golden opportunities for trade, by India, Iran and Afghanistan with Central Asian countries.
In May 2016, India, Iran, and Afghanistan signed an agreement on the establishment of a Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar port as the regional hub for sea transportation. For India, especially, this allows access to the markets of Central Asia, while bypassing Pakistan. The first shipment of cargo from Afghanistan via Chabahar reached India in March this year.
Besides, Chabahar port is also strategically important to India, allowing it to offset the Gwadar port in Pakistan that the Chinese have developed.
Chabahar Port has been exempted from US sanctions. This was confirmed by the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells in Kabul on Monday. The port has the potential to aid rebuild the Afghan economy, vital for the stabilization and peace of the war-torn country.
