Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) Days after the UN sanctions and the US imposing a new set of stiff sanctions on Tehran, India will keep its diplomatic and economic engagement on track when Iranian Finance Minister Shamsuddin Huseini holds talks here July 8-9.
Husseini arrives here Wednesday on a three-day visit with a delegation comprising officials from the ministries of finance and petroleum.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will hold two-day delegation-level talks with Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance at the 16th joint commission Thursday, official sources told IANS.

The two sides will review steps to expand cooperation in diverse areas, including industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and mines, added the sources.

They will also discuss expanded cooperation in science and technology, IT, nano-technology, bio-technology and energy.

The two ministers are expected to sign a joint document laying out various areas of cooperation between India and Iran.

They are also expected to explore possibilities of cooperation in Afghanistan as both have apprehensions about a takeover by the Taliban that will invariably impinge on their strategic interests in the region.

The two sides will also discuss the tri-nation gas pipeline that has been bogged down for years over differences on key issues like pricing of the gas and the security of the pipeline that will pass through the volatile western province of Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan recently signed the pipeline deal, but left the door open for India to join.

Husseini will also meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and discuss steps to expand trade and investment.

India will be treading cautiously as the visit comes soon after the UN sanctions that targeted Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards and the tough US sanctions that aims to starve the Iranian nuclear programme of finance.

US President Barack Obama Thursday signed a bill imposing the toughest sanctions yet on Iran. The legislation aims to cut off Iran’s access to refined petroleum imports, including gasoline and jet fuel and bans US banks from doing business with foreign banks that provide services to Revolutionary Guards.

Being a UN member, India has no choice but to abide by the United Nations Security Council resolution. Although India need not follow the US sanctions, there will be unstated US pressure on New Delhi not to embark on any major investment or energy project with Tehran.

India has voted thrice against the Iranian atomic programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but has pitched for dialogue and diplomacy in the same breath to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff.

This position was articulated when Manmohan Singh met US President Barack Obama for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April and reinforced again in his meeting at Toronto last week.

India has also made it clear that although another nuclear weapon state in its neighbourhood is not in its interest, Tehran has right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).