India does not recognise country-specific sanctions: Sushma

With the US pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal creating uncertainty over dealings with Tehran, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made it clear that India does not recognise country-specific sanctions.

"Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries," she said at a press conference here.

Stating that she will hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who is in India now, Sushma Swaraj said: "We recognise UN sanctions and not country-specific sanctions."

US President Donald Trump, earlier this month, announced his country's withdrawal from the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran, the European Union and the P5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany).

India and Iran have friendly relations and significant trade ties in many areas, particularly in crude oil imports into India and diesel exports to Iran.

Iran is the second largest supplier of crude oil to India, supplying more than 425,000 barrels of oil per day, and India is one of the biggest foreign investors in Iran's oil and gas industry.

--IANS

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