India's Vedanta accused of illegal mining in occupied territories of Azerbaijan; govt to probe

Azerbaijan has complained to the Indian government that Vedanta Sterlite Industries was illegally exploiting gold in its territories that have been occupied by Armenia, a highly-placed official told media agency.

"India has assured Azerbaijan that it will probe the issue. The government has also told them that Indian companies will have to operate in accordance with inter-governmental agreements and local legislation," the official said.

According to sources, the Commerce Ministry has forwarded the complaint of the Azerbaijan government to the Department of Mines for taking up this issue with Vedanta.

A Vedanta spokesperson could not be immediately contacted.

Azerbaijan raised this issue with a high-level Indian delegation which visited the Central Asian country recently. PTI

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