Indian trade delegation hails ‘very successful’ visit to Iran

The head of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations has described the recent visit of an Indian delegation to Iran for exploring export opportunities as “very successful.”

An 80-member Indian delegation, headed by Indian Joint Commerce Secretary Arvind Mehta, arrived in Tehran on March 10 for a five-day visit to discuss the expansion of trade ties between the two nations.

“The visit was very good and very successful,” said director of the Indian federation, Rafeeq Ahmed.

“We saw a lot of interest from the Iranians in buying Indian goods…We talked about the excellent opportunities in food grains, food processing, pharmaceuticals, auto parts and other areas,” he added.

Iran is India’s second-largest oil supplier as New Delhi purchases nearly USD 12 billion worth of Iranian crude every year, about 12 percent of its total consumption.

The two countries have recently signed an agreement for Iranian oil exports to India, based on which New Delhi will pay for 45 percent of its crude imports in rupees as a means of bypassing new US sanctions against Iran’s oil and financial sectors.

On December 31, 2011, US President Barack Obama signed into law new sanctions, seeking to penalize countries importing Iran’s oil or doing transactions with Islamic Republic’s Central Bank.