India can't just rupture ties with Iran, asserts Anand Sharma

India’s economic slowdown is disturbing, but the economy should revert to annual growth of 7.5-8 percent soon, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.

India’s economy is forecast to grow 6.9 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 31, its slowest pace in three years.

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He also said that India “cannot just rupture” ties with Iran, adding New Delhi will discuss oil imports from Tehran at a meeting of emerging world powerhouses.

India could yet be exempted from tighter US sanctions on buyers of Iranian crude, and New Delhi would like to be judged on the size of term deals with Tehran which begin in April, the International Energy Agency’s executive director told Reuters last week.

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The BRICS group of emerging world powerhouses - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - is expected to launch plans this week for a joint development bank and measures to bring their stock exchanges closer together.

Officials say the initiatives will take time as they need to sort out details. But they herald a new level of ambition for a bloc that brings together about half the world’s people. The Middle East and energy security will also be discussed, officials say

Reuters