|
|
|
Modi government bows to US sanctions on Iran: CPI-M
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
|
|
|
SME Times News Bureau | 08 Nov, 2018
The Modi government has cravenly accepted the US sanctions on Iran
because it is locked into a strategic embrace with Washington, the CPI-M
has said.
"There was no need for India to cravenly accept the US
sanctions on Iran," said an editorial in the CPI-M journal "People's
Democracy".
"First of all, unlike the earlier UN sanctions, it
has been unilaterally imposed by the US. Even its allies UK, France and
Germany have refused to accept the sanctions... Russia and China are
firmly opposed to the sanctions," it said.
If India had wanted,
it could have cooperated with all these major countries in order to
ensure that its oil trade with Iran and other business investments could
be carried on, argued the editorial. "This would have been the way to
protect India's national interests.
"But India is locked into a strategic embrace with the US due to the Modi government's eagerness to be a subordinate ally.
"To
defy the US sanctions and preserve its strategic autonomy would require
a break from this strategic alliance - something which the Modi regime
cannot even contemplate," it said.
The Communist Party of
India-Marxist said that despite its public posturing, the Modi
government had caved in due to threats of US sanctions regarding oil
imports from Iran.
The US has re-imposed sanctions on Iran from
November 5 on its oil trade, shipping and banking. Anyone entering into
trade and business activities in these sectors with Iran are also liable
to be sanctioned.
India is the second largest buyer of oil
from Iran after China. At present, Iran is the third largest supplier of
oil to India. In the past six months, the US has been negotiating with
India to cut oil imports from Iran.
The editorial said that
India had already made significant cuts in its crude oil imports from
Iran. It has dropped from 690,000 barrels per day in May 2018 to around
400,000 barrels per day in August this year.
When the US
announced its intention to impose sanctions on Iran, External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj had declared that India would abide only by UN
sanctions.
"From then, to pleading for a waiver by accepting US
terms to reduce oil imports from Iran by a third before sanctions came
into place on November 5, reveals a steady succumbing to US pressure,"
the CPI-M said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
|
|
Daily Poll |
|
|
PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
|
|
|
|
|
Commented Stories |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|