No
waiver to India for Iranian oil, Chabahar port: US
Anwar
IqbalUpdated
September
12, 2018
WASHINGTON:
A senior US official has said that Washington is not offering waiver to any
country from curbs on commercial deals with Iran and so far, the restriction
applies to India as well, which is a major importer of oil from Iran.
Alice
G. Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asia, said in a conference call with journalists on Monday that restrictions
also apply to investments in Iran’s Chahbahar port, a project built with
India’s cooperation.
Ms
Wells – who was briefing journalists on the two-plus-two talks between the US
and India, held in New Delhi on Sept 6 – said there was no “blanket waiver or
country-specific waiver” from US sanctions on trading with or investing in Iran.
She
said the sanctions on Iran that come into force on Nov 4 are not specific to
India, which imports 25 per cent of its oil from Tehran. Iran is India’s third
largest supplier of oil, after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Between April 2017 and
January 2018, Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil to India.
Answering
a question on whether US restrictions on trade with Iran were discussed at the
US-India talks, she said that there was a discussion in general over the
sanctions and on Trump administration’s goal to hold Iran accountable for its
alleged ‘maligned behaviour.’
The
two sides also talked about how US expects other countries to bring their oil
imports from Iran “down to zero as quickly as possible” and on US efforts to
ensure that the restrictions do not disrupt the market, she said. The US has
assured the Indians that adequate supplies are readily available that could be
easily substituted for Iranian oil, the US official added.
“With
respect to Chahbahar, we have heard the Indian government’s assertion for
Chahbahar both as a means of route to Afghanistan, a means for delivering wheat
supplies, for instance, and of opening-up trade to Central Asia,” she said.
“The
US officials were clear that we were still in process of reviewing the
implementation of sanctions and that we were taking this under advisement. So it
was an informational conversation between the parties.”
She
also said that the New Delhi talks were primarily a strategic dialogue, but
trade related issues were also discussed focusing on how both countries could
grow their trade relationship in a fair and reciprocal manner.
She
said that tariff and non-tariff barriers have been the subject of long-standing
concerns and the US was now working with the Government of India to address
these market access issues.
The
US secretary said that, in New Delhi, the Indian and American leaders committed
themselves to resolving trade issues and reaching an agreement to promote
bilateral trade.
She
noted that the US was now India’s top market for exports and the US-Indian
bilateral trade expanded by $12 billion in 2017 totalling to $126bn, whereas
two-way investment expanded almost $57bn.
She
also said that, so far, the US had not taken any decision on giving a waiver to
India to purchase S-400 Triumf missile system from Russia.
“We
continue to have conversations with the Indian leadership. We are working to
hold Russia accountable for its behaviour and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo
said these sanctions are not intended to adversely impact countries like India.
They are designed to impact Russia”, she said.
Published
in Dawn, September 12th, 2018
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