Indo-Iran Close Trade Ties Mooted

Iran is going through a phase of privatisation and the latest development plan calls for 75 per cent of the industries run by the government to be handed over to the private sector, Iran ambassador to India Siavosh Z Yaghoubi has said.

Refining and distribution of oil and gas was one of the sectors identified for privatisation, but oil fields do not come under the privatisation programme, he said.

India and Iran could co-operate in the fields of energy, transportation and defence and the improvement in relations between India and Pakistan could clear the hurdles in the proposed gas pipeline project, Yaghoubi said while addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meeting.

 

Yaghoubi said a memorandum of understanding already signed between the two countries had helped chalk out a strategic partnership between the two countries in the field of energy.

Under the agreement, India would secure five million tonnes of LNG annually from Iran for the next 25 years and Iran would work with India to develop upstream capabilities in oil and gas at an investment of $4 billion.

He said the gas pipeline project would be a catalyst for the economic growth for the entire region. Yaghoubi sought a trilateral co-operation between India, Iran and Afghanistan in the transport sector. The project for a 600-km railway route between Iran and central Iraq would provide an opportunity for the Indian Railways, he said.

He saw possibilities of co-operation between Indian and Iranian companies in reconstruction of Iraq.