Ambassador in New Delhi has decided to lodge a strong protest over the detention of its oil tanker over last 16 days and sought an "unconditional" release of the vessel. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh summoned Iranian Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari to lodge the protest and demanded early release of the tanker detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) since August 12.
The tanker was seized in Persian Gulf while carrying crude from Basrah in Iraq and was taken to Bandar Abbas port. "Foreign Secretary has conveyed Government's strong concern at the continued detention of our ship in Port Bandar Abbas and Government of India's expectation that the ship would be released at an early date and that crew members would be treated with all due consideration and courtesy in keeping with international norms. Officials of both sides will make another effort to resolve this issue amicably," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi.
He also noted that it was for the second time since MV Desh Shanti was detained by Iranian authorities, India had called the Iranian Ambassador. The last such meeting took place on August 16, he said.
India was constantly engaging with Iran --both in Tehran and here, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said while asserting that it was important that New Delhi does not concede any point and the ship has to be released "unconditionally".
Hoping that Iran will address the issue as two weeks "is really too long for something like this to happen", Khurshid said, "I am sure the decision has not been taken at the level of Central government of Iran." Khurshid also said he was convinced that there was no scope for establishing any pollution caused by the ship. "We are little bit perplexed why this had happened and who has taken the decision."
Meanwhile, the Indian Ambassador in Tehran travelled to Bandar Abbas and met the Captain of the ship and the other embassy staff met the crew, official sources said.
MV Desh Shanti belongs to the country's largest ocean liner Shipping Corporation of India (SCI). The development comes at a time when India, the world's fourth-largest oil importer, has significantly reduced its import of crude oil from Iran following severe financial sanctions from the western countries against the Islamic republic.
Iranians have been maintaining that the detention was "purely a technical and non-political issue". "The officials of the shipping authorities of the two countries are engaged in constructive and positive interaction to resolve it according to the international law as soon as possible," the statement by the
Iranian embassy had said, adding the vessel was detained following a warning from the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Center, a Bahrain-based organisation which fights marine pollution.
However, Shipping Ministry officials denied the Iranian allegations, saying "maritime authorities and international surveyors have inspected the ship, which is only nine years old, built in 2004. "It was alleged that it caused pollution on July 30th but the fact remains that the tanker was not carrying crude on that date."
India's crude imports from Iran plunged by more than 26.5 per cent in the 2012-13 financial year (April-March) as US and European sanctions on Tehran combined to make it difficult for Indian refiners to ship Iranian oil. Imports of Iranian crude fell to 13.3 million mt, or close to 267,100 b/d, in 2012-13 from 18.1 million mt, or around 362,500 b/d, in 2011-12.
Earlier sources had said Iran had slipped to sixth place among India's top crude suppliers in the year to March 31 from second place behind OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia in the previous financial year.
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