New Delhi: The US has not taken any decision on sanctioning India for importing oil from Iran and investing in the Chabahar port, or for buying the S-400 air defence missile system from Russia, Alice G. Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said on Monday.
Wells, who was in New Delhi last week as part of the delegation accompanying US secretary of state Mike Pompeo for the India-US “2+2” dialogue, said the talks on 6 September were aimed at laying the foundation of the US-India relationship for the next decade. The “2+2” dialogue was held between Pompeo and US defence secretary James Mattis and Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In a conference call with journalists on Monday, Wells said there was no “blanket waiver or country-specific waiver” from US sanctions on trading with or investing in Iran or buying arms from Russia. She said the sanctions that come into force on 4 November were designed to bring Tehran to book and not penalize India, which meets 83% of its crude oil requirements from outside. Of this, close to 25% comes from Iran. Wells added that Washington’s aim was also not to penalize India for buying the missile defence system or sourcing spares from Russia.