India yesterday further challenged the US and European Union by dispatching a 70-member trade delegation to Iran to explore commercial opportunities created by the EU and US sanctions against Tehran over its alleged, rogue nuclear weapons programme.
The five-day visit by the delegation, comprising members from diverse sectors, comes despite criticism from pro-Israel groups in the US and other Western countries, who accuse India of undermining international efforts to isolate Iran over its reported atomic weapon ambitions.
Anand Seth, spokesman for the state-backed Federation of Indian Export Organisations leading the trade delegation to Tehran said it expected it to garner business from Iran.
Federal commerce secretary Rahul Khullar had recently identified “huge opportunities” for India in exporting textiles, pharmaceuticals, tea, rice, wheat, engineering equipment and in varied infrastructure projects to an increasingly isolated Iran.
Iran is India’s second largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, providing around 12 per cent of its hydrocarbon requirements, worth an estimated $12 billion to fuel its growing economy.
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