India, Iran may hold next round of negotiations for trade agreement in May

Senior officials of India and Iran are likely to hold fifth round of negotiations for a bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA) here this month, an official said.
Till now, four rounds of negotiations have been completed and the last one was held in March in Tehran where both countries discussed draft text of the pact.
According to trade experts, the proposed agreement will give India a greater market access in the Persian Gulf nation.

"The PTA may not help India in bypassing trade sanctions being imposed by the US on Iran, but in the long run, Iran is an important market for Indian exporters," Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.