A day ahead of external affairs minister SM Krishna’s visit to Tehran for the G-15 summit, the Obama administration listed 41 firms across the world doing business with Iran in the energy sector. Among them are a few Indian companies, most of them state-owned.
The listing is a prelude to sanctions against these companies for having business links with Iran. Indian companies in the list include Indian Oil Corporation, ONGC, Petronet LNG Ltd and ONGC Videsh ltd.
“The Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) provides for sanctions against persons, including foreign firms, who invest more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector in any 12-month period,” a report released by the US accountability office stated.
Krishna leaves for Iran on Saturday and will be back home on Tuesday.
With the US and its allies preparing fresh sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme, which Washington is convinced is for making bombs, India finds itself in a delicate situation. Krishna hopes to balance India’s new warmth with the US with its civilisational ties with Iran.
The balancing act may not come easy as India has already angered Iran by siding with the US at the IAEA, not once but twice. This was right in the middle of complex negotiations for the India-US nuclear deal when Washington was looking to India to break out of its old habit of siding with Iran.
But now India is taking a second look at its policy of placing all its eggs in the US basket. This because of the developing situation in Afghanistan, where the US and NATO allies are relying on Pakistan to broker a deal with the Taliban. The Obama administration’s exit policy from Afghanistan is making it tilt heavily towards Pakistan. This has annoyed India which finds itself sidelined in Afghanistan.
India’s decision to correct its pro-US policy line has much to do with Washington’s Af-Pak strategy. While New Delhi realises that Washington has its compulsions in Afghanistan, the South Block also wants to make sure it works in its self interest. This is why it is now hoping to repair ties with Iran and has spoken out strongly against tough new sanctions approved by the US and its western allies.
