India invites Iran to prestigious energy summit

India has decided to invite the Islamic Republic of Iran to the 11th edition of its biennial international oil and gas conference, Petrotech 2014, slated for next month.

According to a report published by the English-language daily The Indian Express on Monday, the measure was taken following consultations within the Indian government over the last few weeks.

The report added that Indian Ministry of External Affairs had earlier warned the country’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas against the decision to include Israel in Petrotech 2014, saying the move could be a diplomatic disaster.

Petrotech 2014 will be held at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida between January 12 and 15 next year. It will reportedly discuss planning, politics, partnership, production and policy within the oil and gas industry, and will focus on ‘Vision 2030: The Emerging Global Energy Basket.’

Nearly 11 oil ministers from across the world would participate in the four-day event.

Companies from many countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Italy, Norway, Germany, Russia and Turkey, will showcase their expertise at an exhibition held during Petrotech 2014.

India is among Asia’s major importers of energy and relies on Iran to meet a portion of its energy demands. Iran was the second-largest supplier of India’s crude before the unilateral sanctions were imposed on Tehran about two years ago.

Earlier this month, Iran and India held talks on how to resume payments that New Delhi owes Tehran over crude oil imports from the Islamic Republic.