An interactive list of bilateral and multilateral free trade instruments can be find on the TREND Analytics website. [59] From an economic perspective, Iran is India`s second largest supplier of crude oil, with more than 425,000 barrels of oil per day, making India one of the largest foreign investors in the Iranian oil and gas industry. [4] In 2011, annual oil trade between India and Iran was halted for $12 billion due to significant economic sanctions against Iran, forcing the Indian Oil Ministry to pay the debt via a banking system via Turkey. [5] [6] In 2008/2009, Iranian oil accounted for nearly 16.5% of India`s crude oil imports. [22] Indian oil imports from Iran increased by 9.5% in 2008/2009, making Iran India`s second largest oil supplier. [23] About 40% of the refined oil consumed by India is imported from Iran. [24] In June 2009, Indian oil companies announced their intention to invest $5 billion in the development of an Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf. [25] In September 2009, the Mehr news agency reported on a Pakistani diplomat saying, “India has definitively denounced the IPI (India-Pakistan-Iran) gas pipeline agreement”[26] in favour of the indian-U.S. civil nuclear energy security agreement. [27] However, Iranian government officials have stated that India is not yet official.

[26] In 2010, U.S. authorities warned New Delhi that Indian companies that use the Asian Clearing Association for financial transactions with Iran risked violating a recent U.S. law prohibiting international companies from dealing with Iranian banks and Tehran`s oil and gas sector, and that Indian companies that deal with Iran in this way could be excluded from the United States. [28] The United States criticizes the ACU`s lack of transparency in its financial relations with Iran and suspects that much of its assets are being misappropriated from blacklisted organizations in Iran, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. [28] The U.S. Treasury also believes that Iran is using the ACU to circumvent the U.S. banking system. [28] On 27 November 2010, the Indian government, through the Reserve Bank of India, informed lenders to cease settling current accounts with Iran through the Asian Clearing Union[28] and to enter into other non-ACU transactions. [29] The RBI also stated that it would not facilitate payments for imports of Iranian crude oil because of increased global pressure on Tehran because of its nuclear program. [30] This approach by the Indian government will make Indian companies understand that working on the ACU “does not necessarily mean that an Iranian counterpart has an international quality label.” Since December 2010, neither Iran nor the ACU has responded to this development.

[28] India rejected new U.S. sanctions against Iran in 2010. A foreign policy strategist from India, Rajiv Sikri, rejected the idea that a nuclear Iran was a threat to India and said India would continue to invest and do business in Iran. [31] Despite increasing pressure from the United States and Europe and a significant decline in oil imports from Persian criminal fields in 2012, Indian leaders have made it clear that they are not ready to end their trade relations.