New Delhi (AsiaNews) - Rahul Kullar, India's Commerce Secretary, has announced the dispatch of a delegation to Iran to fill the vacuum produced by the decision of the United States and its European allies to stop some types of trade with Iran .
The Indian initiative could sour Indo-American relationships in a time when Washington seeks international cooperation to put economic pressure on Tehran and push the country to abandon its nuclear program.
Recently, Ranjan Mathai, Indian Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was in Washington to explain the Indian position on Iran and why New Delhi continues to buy oil from the Gulf country. U.S. officials have warned India of the risk of sanctions by the U.S., if New Delhi tries to save Iran from economic isolation.
Members of U.S. Congress have called Kullar statements "harmful" to the Indo-American relations and "provocative". One of them said: "The Iranian regime has a long history of deceptive trade practices, and we put all the countries on guard from interacting with Iranian institutions that may suffer sanctions or be exploited by the regime."