The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Indian PM resists pressure on Iran sanctions

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, center, poses with EU President Herman Van Rompuy, left, beside EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso before a meeting in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

Lakota to discuss open enrollment proposal
Updated 13 min. ago
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
Updated 18 min. ago
Coroner called to Caesar Creek Lake where boater fell overboard
12:12 p.m.
Road closing for railroad repairs
11:51 a.m.
Worker falls 20 feet from utility pole
11:14 a.m.
> More headlines

By ASHOK SHARMA, The Associated Press Updated 6:56 AM Friday, February 10, 2012

NEW DELHI — India's prime minister resisted pressure from the United States and the European Union to curtail its trade with Iran over the country's suspected nuclear weapons program, insisting Friday that diplomacy was the best way to deal with the concerns.

Washington and its allies want energy-starved India to curtail its dependence on Iranian oil, which New Delhi imports in immense quantities. Western countries believe Iran is using its oil revenues to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

"There have been problems with regard to Iran's nuclear program," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters after meeting with the president of the European Union. "We sincerely believe that this issue can be and should be resolved by giving maximum scope to diplomacy."

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said he would ask Singh to use India's leverage to help bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

Iran is India's second-largest crude oil supplier after Saudi Arabia and according to media reports imports 550,000 barrels a day. Sanctions on Iran had long made that trade difficult, because Indian oil importers had to scramble to find banks willing to handle transactions with Tehran.

But last week, Iran's ambassador to India said the two countries had reached an agreement to make the trade easier. Under the agreement, India will make 45 percent of its payments for Iranian crude oil in rupees and pay the rest by investing in Iranian infrastructure projects. Iran, meanwhile, will use those rupees to buy Indian goods, including machinery, iron, steel, minerals and automobiles, said Ambassador Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh.

A large delegation of Indian trade officials will travel to Tehran later this month to help Iran identify Indian goods and services that it can import.

___

February 10, 2012 11:49 AM EST

Share this article