The India Iran love-in

Here’s a question: what exactly is India up to on the Iranian front? It seems as if New Delhi is all set to defy the odds – and geo-political logic – and continue being the “largest purchaser” of Iranian oil. The US sanctions on Iran’s oil have been reverberating in all the proverbial corners of the world – minus 10 European nations and Japan, of course, but they are Uncle Sam’s strategic chums so they’re forgiven – but New Delhi seems to be paying no heed to the echoes for the time being, and is showcasing no intention of doing so in the near future.
The basic reason for this “heedlessness” is twofold:
1. Iran is the biggest oil supplier for India
2. Substitutes for Iranian oil are not that easy to find
And hence, Indian oil companies are vying to carve out opportunities whence they could continue importing oil from by working around the financial restrictions.
“We are still the biggest buyers of oil. We will continue doing so. Companies pick and chose,” sources in Indian government stated in the buildup to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Iran. Now this is one statement that would have had Washington going the whole gamut between bemused and downright shocked.
Considering that India is the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil along with China, giving the U.S. sanctions the tongue-out would mean that the Western intentions of squeezing Iran into submission on its nuclear program via targeting Tehran’s fiscal nerve would be pointless if the biggest purchasers don’t follow the sanctions. Furthermore, India is also one of the non-permanent members on the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) as things stand and considering that Iran’s nuclear program and the resulting sanctions is one of the biggest concerns on the Security Council’s agenda, India’s reluctance to join the party is definitely not something that would be warmly received. Mitt Romney, Republican Party’s nominee for the November 6 presidential elections this year, is one of many that are raising their eyebrows.
The presidential candidate has reiterated U.S.’s stance on giving India a permanent seat on the UNSC and hence, demanded New Delhi to “do more” apropos reduction in importing oil from Iran. However, what India is “doing more” is that it is encouraging their companies to find ways to dodge the sanctions bullet and to focus on their business – something that any nation that puts its interests over skewed global policies would do. And not only that, the word is that Iranian banks are also exploring the Indian banking arena – this after global banks, including names like Standard Chartered, have been on the wrong end of Uncle Sam’s ‘wrath’ owing to posting trade numbers with Iran.
India’s stratagem is perplexing both from the International Relations rulebook and from its own foreign policy. Granted India has always shared a bit of a love-in with Iran owing to its oil needs, and the desire to trace a tranquil path to Afghanistan, but to cling onto the relationship despite the global antagonism depicts passion that Romeo would have been proud of. Shakespeare’s aficionados would agree that there is more than an inkling of his love stories that can be traced in this bilateral bond. And now with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signaling a victory of sorts for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by not only attending the NAM summit but also parrying away any talks of “doing more” on the Iranian oil front, the blend of the great writer’s tragedies and comedies is also pretty palpable. It’s a comedy of errors for Washington, while New Delhi claims that there is much ado about nothing.

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