India strong enough to stand against pressure of the West, says Iran seeking resumption of import of crude oil

Iran on Friday strongly pitched for faster implementation of the Chabahar port project as well as use of the facility by India to send various shipments saying the key transit hub will benefit both the countriesIranian Ambassador Iraj Elahi also sought resumption of import of crude oil by India from Iran while citing New Delhi not succumbing under pressure by the Western powers to not continue procurement of petroleum products from Russia following the Ukraine crisisIndia stopped procurement of crude oil from Iran after the US did not continue with sanction waivers to India and several other countriesWe believe that India is and was strong and powerful to stand against the pressure of the West India is a rising power India has a powerful economy So India could easily resist pressure from the US and the West the ambassador told a group of journalistsCiting Indias resistance against pressure to not buy oil from Russia Elahi hoped that New Delhi would soon start importing oil from Iran as such a move would benefit the Indian economy Indian people and the Indian oil firms concernedOn the Chabahar port project he called for its speedy implementation while highlighting its strategic importanceWe should view Chabahar port not just from an economic perspective but it should be considered as a strategic partnership Because of this importance the speed of cooperation the speed of progress and the speed of promotion in Chabahar should be faster than what is now he saidIt is important for India as well as Iran It will be for our benefit he addedLocated in the SistanBalochistan province on the energyrich Irans southern coast the Chabahar port is being developed by India Iran and Afghanistan to boost connectivity and trade tiesThe envoy said Iran believes that the Indian government has a positive approach towards itOf course there are shortcomings from both sides We understand the willingness of the Indian government towards Chabahar We believe that Chabahar is not just an economic issue he saidAlso readMaharashtra Man gets 5 years RI for involvement in disposing murder victims body in 2015For India Chabahar is important For Iran also it is important But Iran has different ports in all parts of the Persian Gulf We can use different ports for transit and import and export he said suggesting that the port is crucial for Indian interestsChabahar is an oceanic port It is close to the Indian Ocean and closest to the route to Afghanistan he saidCiting financial constraints being faced by Iran due to Western economic sanctions the ambassador said if Tehran had money then it may not have required any country to come to ChabaharDescribing India as a maritime nation Elahi said Iran expected India to send shipments through ChabaharWe are under sanctions The Chabahar is not connected to Iranian networks Because if we had money and did not have any problem then we may not have required any country to come to ChabaharWe were under sanctions and we needed money We need cooperation political support and we need even some experiments he saidElahi said progress on the project is going onWe are not blaming any country Sanctions are not easy he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever