Iran hopeful India will act in its national interest on oil imports issue
New Delhi: Amid US sanctions, Iran on Tuesday said it believes India will act in its national interest on the issue of oil imports and Tehran can act as a "protector" of India's energy security.
Iran's Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni also asserted that his country can provide "affordability, accessability and security" of energy to India.
The Iranian envoy also alluded to the possibility of using barter, rupee and European mechanisms for trade in oil with India and other countries to circumvent the US sanctions.
His remarks assume significance as they come days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had assured India that America is "doing everything" to ensure crude oil imports to New Delhi in the wake of the situation arising out of sanctions on importing oil from Iran.
Pompeo had said India has made "hard choices" to cut off oil imports from Iran.
Referring to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's remarks at the joint press interaction with Pompeo here last week, Chegeni said: "If Mr. Jaishankar said affordability, accessability and security of energy. Iran is the only country that can provide all these aspects of energy for India."
"We expect from a friend...that we understand each other, follow our national interest and Iran is ready for being the protector of energy security of India," he told reporters on the sidelines of a Iran-India cultural event here.
Chegeni said that probably the oil import may have been stopped but Iran had not got any "negative signal" from India that they would do so in future.
"India is a friend forever. We understand that India will act according to its national interest. As we understand from Mr. Jaishankar's statement that India will follow its national interest. That is acceptable for everybody," he said.
"We think India is under pressure, but we believe India is a friend of Iran. India's relations with other countries do not affect us. Our relations with India are based on history, it is based on long-term mutual benefit and interest," the envoy said.
Asked about the possibility of Chabahar port project getting affected despite not coming under US sanctions, Chegeni said it showed the "hypocrisy" of Americans that they say something else and do something else.
He alleged that the US was appying "indirect" sanctions on the project. "We wish the golden gate (Chabahar) will not be affected, but indirectly it could be impacted," he said.
The envoy also accused the US of indulging in "terrorist acts" by applying economic sanctions on various countries. "I am calling US of being a state terrorist against Cuba, Venezuela and Iran...They will isolate themselves," he claimed.
On India making up its oil needs from Saudi Arabia and the US, Chegeni said Iran does not force its consumers and India will decide for itself.
He also asserted that the oil issue will not affect India-Iran ties.
Chegeni also claimed that many countries were buying oil from Iran both officially and unofficially.
"Our oil is sold, destinations are secret," he asserted. The envoy also hoped that India's trade relationship with Iran will continue to expand.
"Up to April, our bilateral trade between the two countries was 18 billion, while in previous years it was 13.7 billion.," he said.
The envoy said Iran's Pasargad Bank had got all its clearances and will open a branch in Mumbai soon.
As six-month-long exemptions from US sanctions to buy oil from Iran ended in May, India had said it will deal with the issue based on three factors -- the country's energy security, commercial consideration and economic interests.
In November, the US had granted a six-month waiver to India, China, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea to continue importing oil from Iran. The temporary waiver ended on May 2.
In May last year, the US had brought back sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal which was struck in 2015.
The US had told India and other countries to cut oil imports from the Gulf nation to "zero" by November 4 or face sanctions. However, Washington had granted a six-month waiver from sanctions to eight countries, including India.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
