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It imports about 10 million barrels of oil a day. India has a rapidly growing economy and is a very important market for crude oil. In the last decade, India has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. India is projected to be the world’s third-largest economy by 2050. This article will focus on India’s imports of crude oil from Iran. Iran is one of India’s top suppliers of crude oil. In fact, Iran provides about 10% of India’s total imports of crude oil. This has been the case for a long time, as Iran was one of the first countries to start exporting oil to India. However, with sanctions against Iran, this relationship has become more complicated. Iranian crude oil is high quality and relatively inexpensive, which makes it an attractive choice for Indian refineries
Crude oil, inorganic/organic chemicals, fertilisers, plastic products, glass and glassware, natural or cultivated pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, leather, and other items are among the major Iranian imports to India. Almonds, pistachios, dates, and saffron are among the agricultural imports from Iran. When nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe against Iran went into effect in 2011, India was forced to limit its crude oil imports from Iran and diversify its sources of supply. As a result, in 2012 and 2013, the country’s crude oil imports from Iran fell by 1.33 per cent and 37.81 per cent, respectively. Next, the lifting of sanctions the following year, India’s imports of Iranian oil skyrocketed. In order to comply with sanctions, India curtailed its crude oil imports from Iran significantly in 2014.
India’s Iran diplomacy is open and inclusive
India’s inclusive diplomacy was put to the test in the wake of the Iranian nuclear crisis. India voted against Iran at the IAEA (The Hindu, 2009), however, before the vote, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to discuss India’s voting preferences. The Prime Minister explained his vote in favour of the United States’ (co-sponsored) resolution at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) by stating that India does not support Iran’s nuclear aspirations or its violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In 2009, The Hindu published an article on this topic.
India’s Natural Gas imports
In 2020, India imported 36 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with Qatar (14 bcm), the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, the United States (3), and Angola (3) as the leading suppliers. During the year, China purchased 94 billion cubic metres of LNG, with the leading exporters being Australia (41), Malaysia and Indonesia (7).
The World’s Largest Oil Exporter
The United States produced 17.6 million barrels per day of total oil, while Saudi Arabia produced 12 million barrels per day. Russia is the world’s largest oil exporter and the world’s second-largest crude oil exporter, trailing only Saudi Arabia. It exported 7.8 million barrels per day in December 2021, of which 5 million barrels per day (64 per cent) were oil and condensate.
India- Iran Trade
Crude oil, inorganic/organic chemicals, fertilisers, plastic and products, glass and glassware, natural or cultivated pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, leather, and other items are among the major Iranian imports to India. Agricultural imports from Iran comprise almonds, pistachios, dates, saffron, etc.
Conclusion
India is currently caught in a no-win position. Its readiness to limit oil imports from Iran, as indicated above, might strain relations between New Delhi and Tehran, in what appears to be a conscious move on India’s part to avoid upsetting Washington. While India may not fully stop buying Iranian oil, it may contemplate halving its imports from Iran. Within the backdrop of the Iranian nuclear issue, the goal of this study was to interpret the India-Iran RTA and India’s present diplomacy of ‘inclusive alignment’ as a sort of ‘non-alignment.’ Iran provided India with a 90-day credit line and a light kind of oil acceptable for Indian refineries, therefore India signed the RTA. Iran’s trading arrangements appeared to be favourable in comparison to others, such as the GCC. In addition, a strange correlation was discovered between India’s GDP and the pace of overall trade growth between India and Iran. A rising GDP was linked to a higher rate of overall trade growth. India and Iran are at odds.
