India walks fine line on Iran to evade US censure.

WASHINGTON: Smarting under charges that it continues to cozy up to Tehran in the face of US-led sanctions, an angry India on Tuesday accused the pro-Israeli lobby in America of presenting a "distorted picture of foreign policy objectives and energy security needs" by selective use of data about India's imports from Iran.

"India's relationship with Iran is neither inconsistent with non-proliferation objectives, nor do we seek to contradict the relationships we have with our friends in west Asia or with the US and Europe," the Indian embassy in Washington DC said.

In a sentiment that sought to echo Obama's cautionary advise on Monday, that "as a responsible member of the international community, India...firmly believes that the situation concerning Iran should not be allowed to escalate into a conflict, the disastrous consequences of which will be in nobody's interest".

The ostensible reason for the New Delhi authorized statement were reports in the US media that India had actually stepped up its oil imports from Iran despite its close ties with the US and Israel.

The statement, which did not directly name the lobby, maintained that "allusions in the media that India's overall oil imports from Iran are increasing just because its monthly uptake reportedly increased in January this year are based on selective use of information, misrepresenting the fact that in aggregate terms, crude imports from Iran constitute a declining share of India's oil imports."

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com