Surat Rough Diamond Sourcing India Ltd (SRDSIL) has said it will lobby the Indian government to endorse the import of diamonds from Zimbabwe, the Herald newspaper reported.

The new consortium of Indian diamond buyers just sealed a $1.2 billion deal with Zimbabwe's government to train Zimbabweans as diamond cutters and polishers in exchange for a direct supply of rough diamonds. The agreement was inked about a week before the Kimberley Process is scheduled to hold its plenary meeting in Jerusalem, at which the issue of Zimbabwe's diamond exports is expected to come under discussion.

SRDSIL Chairman Ashitbhai Mehta said that his group would be represented at the KP meeting by the Indian government and that the organization would "lobby for its support."

Mehta pointed out that Zimbabwe's rich diamond reserves made it a steady source of rough stones. "We are confident that Zimbabwe will be able to sell its diamonds appropriately," he said.

At the recently concluded Mines to Market diamond trade conference held in Mumbai, Zimbabwe's Mines Minister Obert Mpofu attracted considerable attention with his statements calling the West "hypocritical" for its position against Zimbabwe diamonds in light of continued reports of human rights abuses in the country's diamond fields. Mpofu called the international embargo against Zimbabwe diamonds a human rights violation and said that his country had complied with all KP demands, adding that Zimbabwe had "nothing to fear" from the KP plenum.