Iran oil: India to be driven by domestic interests

India announced Wednesday evening it would continue purchasing Iran’s oil, heeding merely its national interests, apparently giving a negative answer to mounting US pressure to decrease dependence on Iranian energy. India’s official news agency, the PTI, quoting official Indian government officials’ response to the recent remarks by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who had very clearly and precisely in personal talks with her counterparts asked India and the other countries to decrease their dependence on Iranian oil, wrote, “India’s clear response to that demand was that New Delhi acts merely in accordance with India’s national interests, not yielding to any country’s pressure.” The Indian news agencies have also broadly covered the Indian Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy as saying that India is not facing any external pressure on buying crude oil from Iran and will abide by UN sanctions only, not those imposed by any bloc of nations. Speaking at the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, he said there is 'no outside pressure in dealing with Iran'. Rejecting US and European sanctions against Iran, he said, 'We respect UN sanctions but will not honor any other sanction.

'We have cordial relations with Iran and we continue to import oil from them.' (CreditL: IRNA)