Bharat and Beyond

FARZAD FALLOUT. A DIPLOMATIC FAILURE ? Iran’s decision to award the Farzad B gas contract to Russian company Gazprom over indian oil majors comes as a huge blow to indian diplomacy.Considering the fact that the very consortium of Indian firms that was competing for the Farzad B deal is credited for its discovery, the move is disappointing for India in many respects.Iran’s denial to reduce the exorbitant oil prices and not taking a mutually favourable stance over the farzad deal has led to India threatening the resource rich nation with a cut in oil purchases. With Iran being one of India's largest (and in the Iranian ambassador Gholamreza Ansari’s words ‘trusted’) suppliers of oil, the ‘tit for tat’ game that has been going on between the two countries may have major implications for both. Indo - Iranian relations have always been strong, even in times when Iran was faced with economic sanctions from nations across the world.The two nations have found themselves on the same...