India Assures Iran for Expeditious Payment Due to it;
India Iran to Sign DTAA and Bipa Soon: FM
Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has assured his Iranian counterpart that India would like to make the payment due to Iran as expeditiously as possible especially on account of oil and oil products. Shri Mukherjee was speaking at a bilateral meeting when Dr. Seyyed Shamseddin Hooseini Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran called on him in his office at North Block yesterday evening. Shri Mukherjee said that we are working out an arrangement through Deutche Bundesbank (DBB), the German Central Bank to expedite payment to Iran. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that both the countries should work out a mechanism through which we could make arrangements for timely payment by removing the necessary bottlenecks. Shri Mukherjee said that we want to implement the decisions taken in the 16th Session of Joint Commission of both the countries which was held in last July in Delhi. The Finance Minister further said that we want to diversify the commodity basket for trade beyond oil and petroleum products. He asked his Iranian counterpart to impress upon his External Affairs counterpart to expedite the opening of Indian Cultural Centre in Iran which would further strengthen the people to people relationship and cultural ties between the two countries.
The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that in order to further improve and strengthen our financial and economic relationships, we are interested to expedite the finalization of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Iran on priority. Besides, India is also interested to finalise and sign Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) with Iran in the near future which will further boost investment by the prospective investors from both the sides.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Hooseini, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance said that Iran wants to further strengthen its relationship with India not only in field of culture but also in trade and commerce. He said that Iran is building relationship with Asian countries and India has a special place in it as we have historical relationship with India. He said that we invite more investment from Indian companies and prospective investors in Iran to further boost our trade and economic relationships. He assured the Indian Finance Minister that he would take up the issue with the concerned authorities to expedite the opening of Indian Cultural Centre in Iran. He also said that the payment due from India is quite safe and we are not worried about the same. He invited the Indian Finance Minister to visit Tehran at his convenience especially to sign the above mentioned two agreements i.e., DTAA and BIPA.
Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee thanked his counterpart for his invitation and also wished all success for the forthcoming International Celebration of Nowroz festival in Tehran.
DSM/BY/GN