with former Iranian President
Ebrahim Raisi during the
15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 August 2023
Oil and gas In 2008–09, Iranian oil accounted for nearly 16.5% of India's crude oil imports, making Iran India's second largest oil supplier after a 9.5% increase in imports that year. Approximately 40% of India's refined oil was also imported from Iran. In June 2009, Indian oil companies announced plans to invest US$5 billion in developing an Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf. However, by September 2009, Pakistani diplomatic sources reported that "India definitely quitted the IPI gas pipeline deal," favoring the
India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement instead. Iranian officials disputed this claim. The US criticized the ACU for lacking transparency and suspected it was being used to funnel assets to blacklisted organizations like the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Despite these restrictions, India objected to additional American sanctions that year. By 2012, sanctions led to a significant reduction in oil imports from Iran. From 2012 to 2013, Iranian imports stabilized around 250,000 barrels per day, actually increasing proportionally as European imports ceased. In August 2013, Iran detained an Indian tanker, though this was unrelated to the oil embargo. In 2014, India planned to increase Iranian imports by 11 million tons following a 180-day US sanctions waiver, aiming to save over US$8.5 billion in hard currency. In March 2022, Iran's ambassador to India stated the country was ready to meet India's energy security demands as sanctions removal talks continued.
Infrastructure The
Chabahar port has also been jointly financed by Iran and India. India alone plans to invest 20 Billion US dollars towards development of Chabahar port. India is helping develop the Chabahar Port, which will give it access to the oil and gas resources in Iran and the Central Asian states. By so doing, India hopes to compete with the Chinese, who are building Gwadar Port, in Pakistan's Balochistan. Iran plans to use Chabahar for trans-shipment to Afghanistan and Central Asia, while keeping the port of
Bandar Abbas as a major hub mainly for trade with Russia and Europe. India, Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to give Indian goods, heading for Central Asia and Afghanistan, preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar. Work on the Chabahar-
Milak-Zaranj-Delaram route from Iran to Afghanistan began following a trilateral MoU in 2003. Iran is, with Indian aid, upgrading the Chabahar-Milak road and constructing a bridge on the route to Zaranj. A highway between
Zaranj and
Delaram (
Zaranj-Delaram Highway) was built with financial support from India; India's BRO laid the 213 km road. In January 2009 the road was handed over to Afghanistan by India. Along with Bandar Abbas, Chabahar is the Iranian entrepot on the north–south corridor. A strategic partnership between India, Iran and Russia is intended to establish a multi-modal transport link connecting Mumbai with St Petersburg, providing Europe and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia access to Asia and vice versa.
North-South Transport Corridor ,
Azerbaijan and Russia The North–South Transport Corridor is the
ship,
rail, and
road route for moving freight between India, Russia,
Iran, Europe, the
Caucasus, and Central Asia. The route primarily involves moving
freight from India,
Iran,
Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase
trade connectivity between major cities such as
Mumbai, Moscow,
Tehran,
Baku,
Bandar Abbas,
Astrakhan,
Bandar Anzali, etc.
Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key
bottlenecks. The results showed
transport costs were reduced by "$2,500 per 15 tons of cargo". Other routes under consideration include via
Armenia,
Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan. == Cultural relations ==