Monsoon may be providing freshness to many areas in India, but the way the heat is increasing between Iran and Israel is giving a message of difficult times to come. After the killing of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh by Israeli agency Mossad, Iran is constantly threatening direct action. These threats of Iran can turn into a direct war anytime. The heat of war can have a huge impact on India along with the world. India has good diplomatic and trade relations with both Iran and Israel. In such a situation, India will have to be very cautious at the diplomatic level as well.
trade relations with iran
If we talk about India’s trade relations with Iran, then in the year 2022-23, trade worth $2.33 billion was done between the two countries. India’s exports stood at $1.66 billion during the same period. If we talk about the whole world, Iran is India’s 59th largest trading partner. This volume of trade had fallen significantly in the past years due to US sanctions on Iran, which increased last year. It has increased further this year. India usually exports agricultural and milk products like wheat, rice, edible oil, onion, ghee etc. to Iran. Whereas it has been importing methyl alcohol, petroleum bitumen, apples, dates and almonds along with oil from Iran.
However, it is seen that after Europe imposed sanctions on Russia, Russia has proved to be very helpful for India in the field of oil. After the Russia-Ukraine war, India is importing a lot of oil from Russia. Still, India has to depend on Iran in some way or the other to import oil. This war will affect every commodity brought to India through the Persian Gulf. In that case, trade will be directly affected. The alternative route that India is looking for to export oil will also be affected by this war. Due to the disruption in traffic, trade with Iran can decrease, and it is also expected to have a direct impact on the price of crude oil. It is believed that if there is a war, the prices of oil will increase suddenly, which will affect the economy of the whole world. India cannot remain untouched by this.
INSTC Project
After this, India had got the contract to build Chabahar port with Iran. Through this, goods are transported with Iran, Afghanistan and many other countries of Central Asia. This port is a part of INSTC i.e. International North South Transport Corridor project, in which India is an important partner.
Indian diamonds go to Israel
If we talk about Israel, then India is a big exporting country for it. Although India established diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992, but in a short time Israel has developed very good trade relations with India. At present, even if we leave aside the defense sector, India’s trade with Israel has been $ 10 billion in the year 2022-23. India’s export share in this is important. India exports diamonds to Israel. In the last year, Israel is India’s 32nd largest trading partner. If we talk about the defense sector, then Israel has remained a big ally of India in that too.
Experts on foreign affairs do say in their conversations that India’s relations with both the countries are very strong, so there will not be much impact on trade with them. But it does not seem possible that the situation will not change in the event of war. The tension in the region can have a deep impact on trade with both the countries. In this sense, it can be said that the flames of war may spread in the Middle East but its heat will be felt in India as well. Perhaps this is the reason why India has urged both the countries to maintain peace in accordance with its policies.
Tag: Iran news, israel iran war, israel news
first published : August 5, 2024, 2:25 pm IST
