India and Iran Ties Evolve
The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Iran Dr Hassan Rouhani in Ufa, Russia on 9 July 2015 on the margins of the SCO Summit provided a roadmap for developing India-Iran bilateral relations and consulting closely on regional issues.
This meeting was followed by the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran in August 2015, which built on the momentum generated at Ufa. External Affairs Minister co-chaired Joint Commission Meeting with Minister of Economy and Finance of Iran on 28 December 2015 in New Delhi.
In the Joint Commission Meeting, which was preceded by meetings of Joint Working Groups on Trade, Infrastructure and Energy, several decisions to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation were taken. These decisions pertain to India's involvement in the Chahbahar port development and exploration of natural gas in Farzad B field etc.
Relations since lifting of sanctions against Iran:
Relations
between
the
two
nations
have
evolved
greatly
since
then.
India
welcomed
the
announcement
of
lifting
of
nuclear-related
sanctions
against
Iran
in
January
2016.
External
Affairs
Minister
Sushma
Swaraj,
in
a
letter
to
her
Iranian
counterpart,
stated
that
the
milestone
represented
triumph
of
diplomacy
and
signalled
a
new
chapter
of
peace,
progress
and
prosperity
for
Iran
and
our
region
opening
up
vast
opportunities
for
our
two
countries
to
expand
their
ongoing
mutually
beneficial
cooperation
in
a
number
of
spheres
including
energy
infrastructure
and
regional
connectivity.
Increase in oil imports from Iran:
Since the sanctions have been lifted against Iran, India's oil imports from Iran rose over 21% in February. Iran has already increased its exports by 500,000 bpd last month as it works towards regaining its market share after getting reliefs.
Efforts to improve connectivity:
Number of steps in this regard were also discussed during the Foreign Office Consultations led by the Foreign Secretary on the Indian side and Deputy Minister for Asia and Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Iranian side on 4 February 2016 in New Delhi.
A contract between Indian Special Purpose Vehicle and Arya Bander of Iran for development of Chahbahar Port has been finalised. Government approved Credit of USD 150 million to Iran for development of Chahbahar Port.
Requisite credit by EXIM Bank for beginning supply of 2.5 lakh tonne of steel rails under contracts negotiated by State Trading Corporation (STC) was also approved in January 2016. Indian oil companies are in negotiation with their Iranian counterparts for investment in Farzad B upstream project.
Trilateral transit corridor:
Negotiations on an Agreement on India-Iran-Afghanistan Trilateral Transit Corridor have made progress and the next meeting of Experts to finalise the clauses will be held in India shortly.
Cooperation among banks of two nations:
Iranian banks' accounts in India will be activated once Reserve Bank of India reinstates Iran under the Asian Clearance Union (ACU) mechanism. RBI has sought the concurrence of Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance for reinstating Iran under the ACU.
Also, requests of Iranian banks regarding reactivating their accounts existing in various Indian banks and opening branches in India are under consideration of Government/ Reserve Bank of India.