Reducing its oil imports from Iran is “a part of India's role in the international community” in efforts to ensure that Tehran does not acquire nuclear weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here on Monday. Ms. Clinton commended India for the steps it had already taken in this regard but there was need to do more.
At an interactive session with a cross section of society at a school here, she said there was “international consensus” on imposing sanctions on Iran and “the pressure has brought Iran to the negotiating table.”
“The reason why India China and Japan and European countries, who are the primary purchasers of Iran's oil, are being asked to lower their supplies is to keep the pressure on Iran,” she said.
Asked if the U.S. was unhappy with India's response, she said: “It [India] has moved and we are encouraged by what we have seen.”
“Supplies adequate”
Ms. Clinton said countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq had increased oil exports and there was “adequate supply” in the market. “If there was not adequate supply in the market, if there was not the ability for India to go into the market and meet its needs we would understand that, but there are adequate supplies.”
Describing Iran as a state that sponsored terrorism, she said that while she was apprehensive of a conflict between Iran and Israel in the near future, the greatest anxiety was if nuclear weapons were to pass into the hands of terrorists.
Alternative pipeline
She pointed out that trade within the region in Central and South Asia was not as vibrant as in other parts of the world, suggesting an oil pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan into India and into Bangladesh and Myanmar as an alternative to supplies from Iran.
Keywords: India-U.S. ties, Hillary India visit, Iranian nuclear issue, NPL, nuclear supplies, Iranian oil imports
I still do not understand why US is always using India as a shoulder to shoot some countries like IRAN/IRAQ, all my comments are not as a muslim but as a human. There are humans living in Iran, they also need their GDP to grow, so they also have every right to export oil to all needing countries, so my India is one among them. We Indians need lot of oil so we are importing. This is our business. If Iran is not listening to you it is your business. If you talk about human rights always related to few countries, where some bomb exploded etc, don't you see in the recent past what had in Iraq, Afghanistan and other poor neighbouring countries. Please do not enter in India. We are peacefully doing our daily activities. We have our own issues to solve for Indian people.
While I am usually suspicious of the US acting as a big brother, I see nothing but honest advice in this. It's high time India takes a lead in setting up a 'local' market - involving countries like China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc. This will not only help improve relations by delivering profits to all, but also reduce our reliance on middle-eastern & Russian oil/gas alone. Also, It is imperative for a country to have a strong & stable domestic political scenario before it goes nuclear. Iran is within it's rights as a country to pursue it's nuclear ambitions, but first, it must prove adequately that it is stable enough politically to handle something as powerful as a nuke. These precautions weren't taken when Pakistan went nuclear and now, it is a constant source of headache and fear in the world. This mistake should not be repeated. A nuke in the wrong hands could be catastrophic.
Iran says that the sanctions are not hurting them but thay sure want them lifted asap its time that thay listen to the un and do what thay ask unless thay are not telling the truth if that is the case let the new f-22s fly and take out whatever needs to be and the complex in the mountain a few bunker busters will solve that
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