Thread: India, a key U.S. Ally, Plans to Ignore Trump's Iran Sanctions

India, a key U.S. Ally, Plans to Ignore Trump's Iran Sanctions

By Iain Marlow
and Debjit Chakraborty
May 29, 2018, 2:20 AM EDT

India only recognizes UN sanctions, foreign minister said
Throughout previous sanctions, India purchased Iranian oil

India plans to ignore U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to impose sanctions on Iran. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Consolidated News Photos

President Donald Trump may have ordered the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, but one of Asia’s biggest oil importers -- and a key strategic ally of the U.S. -- plans on ignoring them.

India, a long-time buyer of oil from both Iran and Venezuela, only complies with United Nations-mandated sanctions and not those imposed by one country on another, said foreign minister Sushma Swaraj at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.

“India will comply with UN sanctions and not any country-specific sanctions,” Swaraj said at an annual briefing, flanked by her two junior foreign ministers and India’s foreign secretary.

Swaraj later met Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, where they discussed Trump’s plan to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Swaraj said "all parties to the agreement should engage constructively for peaceful resolution of the issues," according to a foreign ministry statement.

Indian refiners had slashed purchases of Iranian crude to about half their previous levels when the United Nations, European Union and U.S. imposed a broad array of economic sanctions against Tehran. Nevertheless, India continued to import Iranian crude oil and was among the last six customers of the Persian Gulf nation.
What Sanctions?

Despite threats and curbs, Iran and Venezuela remain key oil suppliers to India

India's oil ministry

Purchases by India, which meets over 80 percent of its oil needs through imports, surged after the sanctions were lifted in 2016. Indian refiners bought a record 27.2 million tons of Iranian oil during the year through March 2017, a whopping 114 percent increase over the previous year.

Closer Ties

Washington and New Delhi have overcome Cold War-era tensions and grown much closer in the past two decades, in part due to U.S. strategic concerns about China’s growing influence in Asia.

But India’s post-independence history as a leader of the "non-aligned" movement -- developing nations not allied with the U.S. or the then-Soviet Union -- means New Delhi maintains economic relationships that raise eyebrows in western capitals, including with Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. India also ignored U.S. requests to close its embassy in North Korea, Swaraj said at her briefing.

In February, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani visited India and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss energy cooperation and New Delhi’s investments in Iran’s Chabahar port.

Trump is also considering new sanctions on Russia, a historic ally and key supplier of arms to India, related to allegations that Vladimir Putin’s government interfered in the U.S. election.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...iran-sanctions

NO VISA

NO WORK VISA

SEND NOTICE FOR ALL THOSE HERE WORKING TO PACK UP, SELL UP AND GET OUT!

NO FOREIGN AID TO INDIA

Originally Posted by Beezer

NO VISA

NO WORK VISA

SEND NOTICE FOR ALL THOSE HERE WORKING TO PACK UP, SELL UP AND GET OUT!

NO FOREIGN AID TO INDIA

See which is more important to them, oil from Iran or trade with the U.S.

Originally Posted by jtdc

See which is more important to them, oil from Iran or trade with the U.S.

Or .. H1B visas. PULL THEM ALL NOW!!

Pull ALL visa's and ALL Student Visa's!

Which has what to do with the New York Stock Exchange Dow Jones Industrial Average of America's 30 top companies that comprise the Dow?! Nothing.