INDIA AND IRAN: ENERGY RELATIONSHIP

Aslesha Dhillon, May 2016

ABSTRACT: There are three main factors that affect India’s relationship with the Iran, namely: a) energy security, b) India’s domestic Muslim constituency (mainly the Shi’a population) and c) the Afghanistan situation. While the last two issues are significant, energy and economics have dominated the bilateral relationship of the two states. The international sanctions against Iran undermined India’s ability to pursue its energy relationship with Iran. However, as the international sanctions against Iran have been lifted, new economic and geopolitical opportunities are created for the examine the current energy and connectivity deals with geopolitical, strategic and economic significance. Indo-Iranian ties. This paper will first examine the domestic profiles of India and Iran respectively. Next, the paper will analyze the impact of Iran’s re-entry into the oil market post, the lifting of the international sanctions for both Iran and India. After that, the paper will examine the current energy and connectivity deals with geopolitical, strategic and economic significance.