Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist September 2019 | Page 58

HAPPENINGS
has offered 50,000 scholarships to African students under
the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
programme, Indian Council for Cultural Relationship (ICCR)
scholarships and other training programmes under the India-
Africa Forum Summit (IAFS).
Various initiatives have been undertaken under the
existing India-Africa engagement that are specific to higher
education like education exchange programmes, scholarships,
Pan-Africa e-network, capacity building through institutions
and knowledge partnerships.
With its track record as the single largest provider of
global talent, India has become a popular higher education
study destination for young students across the world. The
highest share of foreign students come from the neighbouring
country of Nepal (24.9%), followed by Afghanistan (9.5%),
Sudan (4.8%), Bhutan (4.3%) and Nigeria (4%). The top
ten countries contribute 63.4% of the total foreign students
enrolled. The highest number of foreign students are
enrolled in undergraduate courses, followed by postgraduate
programmes. n
Sanctions, oil & more…
I
ran has been in recent spotlight due to the series of events
which happened one after the other. India is looking to
balance its relations between the US and Iran even as it
plans to source oil from alternate sources following expiry
of waiver for Iranian oil imports.
At an interactive session organised by PHD Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, H.E. Dr. Ali Chegeni, Ambassador
of Iran to India affirmed that his country can provide
affordability, accessibility and security of energy to India.
“Iran is prepared to be the protector of security of energy
for India. Maybe import of oil stopped under pressure but we
did not get any negative signal from the Indian government,”
he added.
Ambassador Chegeni further said: “We believe India will
look into the future. We are hopeful that our relationship will
continue.
He also referred to the option of using barter, rupee and
European mechanisms for trade in oil with India and other
countries to circumvent the US sanctions.
Coming to Chabahar port, it enjoys special strategic status
and is the gateway to Afghanistan, Central Asia, Caucasus,
Russia and Europe. It’s important to realise that Chabahar
is a free economic zone and given India’s growing desire
for energy, it could turn into the largest industrial complex
especially on the downstream and upstream oil and gas sector
in the region.
Ambassador Chegeni elaborated that “Chabahar is well
known in India, but even so, many people here don’t know
much. Chabahar port is very close to India. It is part of the
Indian Ocean, so is very deep, unlike other ports in the Persian
Gulf like our port of Bandar Abbas. We are keen to promote
Chabahar as a hub where big ships can enter, offload to smaller
ships that can go easily to other ports as well.
Iran is among India’s important trading partners with
India’s total trade with Iran in 2018-19 amounting to US$
17,036.65 million posing an impressive growth of 24
percent over the previous year and exports to Iran valued at
US$ 3,511.01 million and imports from Iran valued at US$
13,525.64 million.
Commercial ties between the two countries have
traditionally been dominated by Indian import of Iranian
crude oil with India being the second largest buyer of Iranian
crude after China and Iran being the third largest supplier of
crude to India (in the year 2017-18).
Ambassador Chegeni expressed his interest in expanding
and strengthening long-term cooperation in diverse sectors
including mining, infrastructure, construction, defence, and
energy.
Dr Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, visited India last
year in February, in his first-ever visit after taking over as
the President of Iran and the visit resulted in 13 MoUs/
Agreements being signed between the two countries, covering
important sectors such as connectivity, trade, agriculture and
taxation.
This interactive session provided an excellent opportunity
for the participants to discuss the areas of bilateral trade and
cooperation between Iran and India alongwith trade and
investment opportunities and the issues and barriers to trade
with Iran. n
58 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 9 • September 2019, Noida