India on a tightrope, traders head to Iran
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A delegation of Indian exporters headed to Iran on Friday to explore commercial opportunities created in the Islamic nation after US-led sanctions imposed on it over its nuclear plans.
The 70-member Indian trade delegation is lead by Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), president M. Rafeeque Ahmed. The delegation is expected to remain in Iran till March 14.
“The basic purpose of the delegation is to explore opportunities which has risen after the sanction imposed by US and other European nations on Iran,” said a senior official from FIEO.
Last week, FIEO had said that Iran will settle payments for its imports from India through a rupee account at the UCO Bank. “The payment problem with Iran has been resolved with operationalisation of rupee payment mechanism through UCO Bank. The payments which have been stuck in the past will be cleared expeditiously,” Mr Ahmed had said.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had also agreed to grant all export benefit on such payments though paid in Indian Rupee as applicable to payment in free foreign exchange.
India is under pressure from the US and Israel over its trade ties with Iran. American Jewish Committee, the most powerful lobbying group in the US, had expressed dismay at the expanding Indian trade ties with Iran. US and its partners have imposed economic sanction against Iran over its nuclear programme.
However, India is facing trouble in importing oil from Iran. According to reports, Indian Oil Corporation had cancelled an Iran spot shipment contract with Shipping Corporation of India as European insurers were reluctant to issue insurance due to tension in US-Iran relation.
Iran is the second largest exporter of oil to India. India has said that it will follow only sanctions imposed by the UN and not any block of countries. But, despite India’s public stand, it has been looking to decrease its dependence on Iran so that it doesn’t face problem in case the tension results in a full fledge war between Iran and US and its partners.
India had $2.7 billion of exports to Iran in the year ended March 2011. Iron or steel items were the biggest category, accounting for $623.2 million. That was followed by $453.6 million of products including inorganic chemicals, compounds of precious metals and rare-earth metals, and $419.6 million of cereals.
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