00:20Just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iran President Massad Pajeshkian in Bishkek,
00:27U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that the two countries are setting up a trade deal.
00:34And at the same time, Rubio issued a blunt warning.
00:38Countries that help Iran evade U.S. sanctions, he said, could face sanctions themselves.
00:44So what exactly happened?
00:47Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pajeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Bishkek.
00:55It was their first bilateral meeting since the Iran-U.S. conflict began in February.
01:02During the meeting, Modi said India wanted to expand and diversify its trade basket with Iran.
01:08The two leaders also discussed the ongoing conflict in West Asia,
01:13including the need to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure and freedom of navigation.
01:19Pajeshkian, meanwhile, urged India to use its wide-ranging diplomatic contacts to encourage dialogue and help end the fighting.
01:28But Washington is watching closely.
01:32Asked whether Modi and Pajeshkian were setting up a trade deal,
01:36Rubio said he did not think there was a trade deal between India and Iran.
01:40He acknowledged that countries around the world maintain contact with Tehran.
01:45But then came the warning.
01:48Rubio said U.S. President Donald Trump had made Washington's position clear.
01:53No country should help Iran create mechanisms that allow it to generate revenue and evade U.S. sanctions.
02:00And if countries choose to do so, Rubio warned, they could be sanctioned too.
02:06This puts India's relationship with Iran under renewed scrutiny.
02:11New Delhi continues to maintain diplomatic and economic ties with Tehran,
02:16while also engaging closely with Washington.
02:19One key issue is Chabahar Port, an important India-Iran connectivity project
02:25that has faced uncertainty because of U.S. sanctions.
02:29India has maintained that regional disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy,
02:35while protecting its own trade, connectivity, and strategic interests.
02:40So, for now, there is no confirmation of an India-Iran trade deal.
02:45But Modi's meeting with Pajeshkian has once again highlighted India's difficult balancing act,
02:51maintaining strategic ties with Iran while avoiding a direct clash with U.S. sanctions policy.
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