India, Iran hold talks to end oil payment row

October 5th, 2011 - 9:19 pm ICT by IANS  

New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) Senior officials of India and Iran have held “detailed and constructive discussions” to resolve the oil payment dispute, an official statement said Wednesday.

A high level Indian delegation, led by R. Gopalan, secretary in economic affairs department (finance ministry), held talks here Oct 4-5 with an Iranian delegation, led by Seyed Kamal Seyed Ali, vice governor of the Central Bank of Iran.

The officials discussed the “issues relating to settlement of payments on account of bilateral trade between the two countries,” the finance ministry said.

“The two sides held detailed and constructive discussions on the various options for resolving the issues relating to settlement of payments,” it said.

“Both sides agreed on the mechanism to be put in place for the purpose, including for the payment to Indian exporters and project exporters. Both sides agreed to continue their engagement in the matter.”

Bilateral trade between India and Iran has been affected in recent months due to the payment settlement crisis which started from December 2010.

Iran is the second biggest supplier of crude oil to India after Saudi Arabia. Nearly 12 percent of India’s oil demand is met by Iranian supply. India imports nearly 400,000 barrels of oil from Iran daily.

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