Ahmadinejad Calls Up Manmohan As India Cuts Oil Imports Under US Pressure
New Delhi: In the middle of all the talk here about further reducing crude imports from Iran, and barely a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad quietly called PM Manmohan Singh urging him to expand bilateral ties in "different fields".
Ahmadinejad's call is being seen as a gentle reminder to New Delhi that Iran is looking at the moves being made by India at the highest level. Ahmadinejad spoke to Singh on Monday evening and while he did not get into specifics, he is said to have told the PM that the two countries enjoy "deep brotherly relations" and together they would witness "bright future".
In his conversation with Singh, Ahmadinejad insisted that bilateral cooperation between India and Iran would lead to considerable achievements for both nations. Singh too said that widening ties with Iran was on the basis of "national interests". Calling for expansion of cooperation with Iran, he said New Delhi attaches great importance to ties with the country.
And, in yet another sign that Iran is trying to reach out to India, despite the oil cut, government sources also said that Tehran is likely to send its foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi soon to invite Singh for the 16th NAM summit, to be held in Tehran in August, and also for bilateral talks with Ahmadinejad.
Iran's foreign ministry joint secretary Ahmed Sobhani, who handles India, is here for the next round of dialogue between the political committees formed by the two countries and is likely to touch upon the issue of a possible meeting between the two leaders later this year.
Ahmadinejad's call to Singh comes at a time when India is being seen as giving into pressure from the US to cut its crude imports. While the imports have gone down considerably, the government has painstakingly denied being under pressure from the US and has attributed it to purely financial and commercial considerations.
Iran has not reacted officially to India's move to reduce its oil imports, but Ahmadinejad's call to Singh does suggest that Tehran is concerned about any drastic cut. The government has also said in Parliament that it is trying to diversify its crude import sources to "reduce its dependence on any particular region of the world".
India depends on Iran for 12% of its 80% crude imports. Iran is one of the most important countries for India in handling war-torn Afghanistan after the ISAF forces pull out in 2014.
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