India plans Indo-Pacific talks with China, Russia
NEW DELHI: India will have dialogue with China on the In do- Pacific, keeping in the mind the growing warmth in the relationship between the two countries, persons familiar with the thinking in New Delhi said, adding that a similar discussion with Russia too may be in the offing.
“We will have maritime dialogues with China and Russia in the coming months. Our effort is to work out in some more detail and to see how we can get coherence in the Indo-Pacific commu- nity about the Indo-Pacific as a concept ”, said one of the persons.
India is also part of a so-called quad grouping with the US, Japan and Australia that is widely seen as a forum to counter growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. India never been “publicly critical of the Chinese posture”, the first person said, but “we would like a rules based order in the Indian Ocean because it is important for navigation connectivity.”
At the Shangri La dialogue in Singapore last month, PM Naren-dra Mo di assured the audience that the quad will not be the sole
MEANWHILE, THE RBI HAS ISSUED A LICENCE TO THE BANK OF CHINA TO OPEN ITS FIRST BRANCH IN INDIA, AN ISSUE THE TWO SIDES WERE DISCUSSING FOR SOME TIME.
custodian of the Indo-Pacific .“India does not see the Indo-Pacific region asa strategy or as a club of limited members. Norasa grouping that seeks to dominate. And by no means do we consider it as directed against any country,” Modi said. “It is normal to have partnership son the basis of shared values and interests. India, too, has many in the region and beyond. We will work with them, individually or in formats of three or more, for a stable and peaceful region. But our friendships are not alliances of containment .”
Explaining this position further, the first person said that the general agreement that “we should work with all countries and try and explain that the concept of the Indo-Pacific is not directed against any country.”
NEW DELHI: A team of US officials is expected to visit India soon to hold discussion son the sanctions on Iran and their impact on India’ s oil imports, persons familiar with the development said, adding that this would help New Delhi get some clarity on the issue.
Meanwhile, India is looking at various options, including reviving the rupee-rial mechanism used between 2012 and 2015 (when, again, there were western sanctions against Iran), to get around the US’ insistence on the sanctions, one of the persons added.
According to this person, there is “informal indication” that the US might see India’s investment in the Chabahar port in Iran as something outside the scope of the sanctions because of its importance to Afghanistan.
Ports and Shipping will also come under US sanctions on Tehran that follow President Donald Trump’s announcement in May that the US was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal midwifed by the Obama administration in 2015.
The Ch a bah ar port gives landlocked Afghanistan access to a sea-route for trade and could reduce its dependence on Pakistan. The port would also give India access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Iran is India' s third- largestoil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil to India between April 2017 and January 2018(first 10 months of fiscal 2017-18).
“Iran is an important partner for us and a major source of our oil import,” the first person added.
The US has told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to "zero" by November 4 or face sanctions, indicating that there would be no waivers to anyone. But subsequently, US officials said that they would look at relaxation to ‘friends and allies’ who would slash the oil import from Iran in the next few months.
“We understand from certain statements that the US is prepared to work with countries that are reducing their oil imports on a case-to-case basis”, the first per-- son said. “The question is what do we see as a national interest and how do we explain our case to the US. That is still to be done.”
The rupee-rial mechanism was put in place in 2012 to circumvent sanctions against Iran. Though the mechanism is still active, its importance has come down after sanctions were removed in 2015. Under the mechanism, India used to pay in euros to clear 55% of its dues to Iran (through the Ankara-based Halk bank).
The remaining 45% payment was remitted in rupees in the accounts of Iranian companies in the state-owned UCO Bank; this money was used by Iran to pay for its imports from India.
Last week during her visit here, US envoy to the United Nations N Nikki Haley had said that India should snap trade ties with Iran.