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Ahead of G20 Summit, PM Modi And President Trump Meets

On Friday, the United States President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on the big picture of the Gulf region to discuss the possibilities of bringing stability – a twist on the expected line of talks over oil supplies in India. Both the leaders held 15-minutes bilateral talks this morning on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Japan’s Osaka, where they have discussed several key subjects.

While briefing reports on bilateral talks, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that “on Iran, the primary focus was on how we ensure stability there, as instability affects us in many ways, not just in the matter of energy needs, but also in terms of our large diaspora in Gulf.”

The stability of the Gulf region is very important for India. Therefore, Mr. Gokhale pointed out, eight million Indian lives in the Gulf. 

The disputes between Iran and the United States has taken shape over Iran’s threat to violate 2015 Nuclear Deal that it made with world powers. The issue escalated after the United States claimed that Iran has targeted six oil tankers in the Gulf region, which Iran has totally denied.

Last week, Iran has shot down a “spy” drone of the US, claims it was in its air space, which was denied by the Washington.

At the last minute, the US President has called off retaliatory air strike, claims it would mean heavy casualties.

Though Indian oil suppliers have totally stopped purchasing of crude oil from Iran to avoid sanctions after tension around between Iran and the United States, the query of sourcing crude oil for India is yet to be categorized.

Diplomatic sources claimed that an official decision has to be taken as it expects India would discuss alternative sources of oil supplies during the talks.

Indian sources two-thirds of its oil supplies from the middle east and conflict is likely to rise related to oil pricing, deficits and will also derail the Prime Minister’s proposal to fast-track the economy.

At present, the emergency crude oil reserves are at 39.1 million barrels that can run for 9.5-days. Oil suppliers have restricted imports from Iran to avoid sanctions.