USA decided to act in the most unfriendly manner by imposing so called sanctions on India on 02 May, in midst of the ongoing General Elections. It knew fully well that there would be no reaction from the Indian Government.
However now the results are out and NDA govt is back with a thumping majority. The new govt led by Modi will soon be taking a decision on import of Iranian oil. We all know that it has to be done carefully, balancing various factors. We do not want to take on USA unnecessarily but at the same time, we will not be dictated by it.
Asia is for the Asians and outside powers cannot dictate their whims and fancies. We have friendly relations with USA but in similar manner we have good relations even with Iran.
Therefore the tone and tenor of the Indian Ambassador to USA sounded unlike that of an Indian when Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that India has ended all imports of oil from Iran. It sounded as if India has become the latest country to grudgingly comply with threatened US sanctions.
“India had already sharply decreased its imports from Iran and bought one million tonnes (tons) of crude in April, the last month before Washington stepped up its pressure campaign against Tehran and ended all exemptions to sanctions,” Mr Shringla said.
What is most surprising is that he uttered such a sentence “That’s it. After that we haven’t imported any,” during a briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election victory.
Mr Shringla also humiliated India by adding that the country has also ended all imports from Venezuela because it considered itself a partner of the United States – but said the shift had caused pain at home, with Iran formerly supplying 10 per cent of the country’s oil needs.
Trump last year pulled out of a multinational pact under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief.The Trump administration has instead ramped up economic pressure on Iran and recently deployed military assets including an aircraft carrier strike group to the area.
The United States as of May 2 ended exemptions it had given to eight governments from its unilateral order to stop buying Iranian oil. Turkey, which enjoyed a waiver and vocally disagreed with the US policy, has also stopped importing oil from Iran, a Turkish official said Wednesday.State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus welcomed the news from Turkey.
Though later he called Iran “an extended neighbour” with longstanding cultural links, Mr Shringla declined to say if New Delhi shared President Donald Trump’s concerns about Tehran.
“This is an issue that has to be dealt with, really, between the United States and Iran. We are only, in many senses, looking at it as a third party,” he said. Mr Shringla as Indian Ambassador, how can you even utter such a sentence. We are not a third party when someone tries to dictate to us on our relationship with another country. We too need Iran for oil, for Chabahar, for Afghanistan and for stability in the region.
Though Mr Shringla later added: “We would not like to see a move towards any escalation in any way in that area, for the simple reason that we depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world. I think it is in the interest of both our countries and all others concerned to ensure that that lifeline continues for the people of Afghanistan.” Mr Shringla, also voiced confidence that US sanctions would not affect its partnership in developing Iran’s Chabahar port.
However the damage has been done.
