Iraq and India have agreed to trade oil in exchange for wheat under a long-term accord signed last month in New Delhi, an official newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Indian ambassador R. Dayakar, quoted in Al-Jumhuriya, said the accord covered "the exchange of 35,000 tons of wheat for Iraqi crude" and added that India's annual oil needs amounted to 25 million barrels of oil.
On November 29, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan announced at the end of a visit to New Delhi that Baghdad was establishing a wide-ranging strategic partnership with India.
The two countries agreed in principle on a new food-for-oil deal, an Indian foreign ministry official said, without giving details.
Before finalizing the arrangement, India will consult the UN sanctions committee "regarding implementation under the sanctions regime currently in force," the spokesman added.
Under a 1996 agreement, India has been importing oil worth 250 million dollars per year from Iraq under the UN oil-for-food program.
Iraq, which has been under sanctions since its August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, is authorized to export crude to finance imports of humanitarian goods under strict UN control -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
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