Venezuela desires to trade with India in Indian Rupees

New Delhi, March 13: South American oil-rich nation Venezuela has requested India for an Iran-style arrangement wherein bilateral trade can be permitted in Indian Rupees instead of the US Dollar. Venezuela’s foreign minister Jorge Arreaza said Venezuela wants India to buy its oil using Indian rupee, which the South American country, in turn, can use for trading Indian food products and medicines.

He said that in his interaction with senior Indian ministers during his visit, he had kept in mind that India had granted this facility recently to Iran. “We did seek it (a similar decision from India regarding Venezuela),” Arreaza told. Venezuela even now trades with China, Russia, and Turkey in currencies other than the US Dollar.

Vijay Goel, Member of Parliament, tweeted “Venezuela seeks to trade with Indian currency! South American oil-rich nation Venezuela has requested India for an Iran-style arrangement wherein bilateral trade can be permitted in Indian Rupees instead of the US Dollar.”

Venezuela wants to be able to do the same with India as well, said Arreaza, adding that he is awaiting a decision on this matter by the Indian Finance Ministry.

Currently, the trade between India and Venezuela takes place using dollar.

India through its oil Public Sector Undertaking has invested substantially in the oil sector of that country. The South American country is the second largest oil supplier to India.