The United States has sought to downplay concerns over India's warning that new legislation targeting buyers of Russian energy could affect bilateral ties, saying it understands New Delhi’s response to the measure.
A senior US State Department official said Washington had taken note of India’s concerns following the passage of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which gives US President Donald Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on major purchasers of Russian energy. India is among the countries that could potentially be affected.
“Of course, the Indian government has to respond. Congress took a pretty hard approach, especially publicly. You had members of Congress calling out India in particular, so of course India has to respond. We understand that they have a domestic constituency, as do we. Like there’s no sort of hard feelings on any of that kind of activity,” said the official.
India flags impact on bilateral ties
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had earlier warned that the legislation could have implications for both the India-US relationship and the international energy market.
“This issue has been discussed at high levels in recent months with various US interlocutors. Its potential implications for not just the bilateral relationship but also the international energy market have been very clearly articulated by the Indian side,” the MEA said.
The legislation does not automatically impose tariffs, but gives the US administration additional powers to take action against countries continuing significant energy trade with Russia.
Trump has waiver powers
The senior US official said the legislation also provides Trump with a “broad national security waiver”, giving the president room to decide how the powers under the law are used.
The official did not say whether India would receive a waiver, but noted that there could be situations in which the US president chooses to use the authority.
The sanctions issue also figured in a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
US points to energy cooperation
The official said Washington could help India diversify its energy supplies, noting the country’s large energy requirements and limited options after supplies from Venezuela and Iran were cut off.
“India has been looking for a long time to diversify its energy sources. They’re a country that has massive energy needs..Unfortunately, Venezuelan oil was cut off, Iran was cut off, and so the options were very limited.
Now, with President Trump’s incredibly successful operation in Venezuela, we are moving into a better position that countries like India are going to be able to get access to that market, and that’s something the Secretary (Rubio) has talked about publicly that he’s working tirelessly on, and the Indians are very interested.”
The official also pointed to continued US engagement with India through the Quad and Rubio’s planned visit to India in October.