Govt denies US pressure on oil import from Iran.

NEW DELHI: India is not under any pressure from the US on import of oil from Iran, the government said on Thursday assuring the Lok Sabha that it only respected sanctions imposed by the UN and not from any block of nations.

Petroleum and natural gas minister S Jaipal Reddy said during question hour that there was no pressure from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent visit here that India should not import oil from Iran. He was responding to a question asking why India was reducing its oil imports form Iran.

"Government of India is perfectly free to take a decision (on this issue)....We do not take note of sanctions by other countries," Reddy said. He assured the House that India's sovereignty will never be compromised on the issue of importing oil from Iran. "So far as our sovereignty is concerned, we can assure that we will never allow any pressure," the minister said.

To another question, he maintained that India has been importing oil from Iran and will continue to do so. "There will be less oil or more oil imported from Iran depending on demand. The oil companies will decide that. These things are not monitored by the government but by the companies," he said.

Clinton had suggested that India should minimize oil import from Iran to put pressure on that country to curb its nuclear programme.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com