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The United States submitted an aide mémoire seeking India to reconsider
its decision to invest in a Syrian
oilfield. The memo handed to the
External Affairs Ministry by senior US
diplomats accused Syria of not fully
co-operating with United Nations
investigations on its role in the
assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafiq Hariri. It said that
this was not the “right time to send
mixed messages to the Syrian Arab
Republic Government (SARG).†The US
fears that the Syrian Government will
“exploit†the proposed joint-venture
investment with China of USD 573
million to mean that it is not
“isolated and therefore not comply
with†United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) Resolution obligations. The
UNSC had unanimously passed two
resolutions “mandating complete
cooperation by the Government of Syria
with the UN’s investigations.†It is
not known whether a similar a memo has
been issued to China. Indian officials
told the US officials that the Oil &
Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) would
proceed with the deal in co-operation
with the China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC) with the
acquisition of 37% stake in the al-Furat
oil and gas fields from Petro-Canada.
This oil field with proven reserves of
300 million barrels of oil is partly
owned by Shell. India considers this
investment strategic both from the
perspective of quantifiable assets but
also as means to further its incipient
oil partnership with China. This memo
comes on the heels of another
controversy of the US Ambassador’s
comments that the Indo-US civilian
nuclear deal may be in jeopardy if
India does not vote with the US and
Europe against Iran at the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
this week. There is increased fear in
India that the US is leveraging the
Indo-US nuclear deal for civilian use
to curb Indian decision-making to meet
its own ends.
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