New York, Sept 24 — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that Washington can help regional partners with energy security in the context of the recent legislation to impose a 100 per cent tariff on countries buying Russian oil, according to the State Department.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar said he raised the sanctions issue when he met with Rubio here on Wednesday (local time).
He wrote on X that he "reiterated India's interests and concerns with regard to SRIA", the Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.
In the readout of the meeting, the State Department said Rubio and EAM Jaishankar "discussed sanctions that could be levelled against states that engage economically with Russia and Iran".
"The Secretary emphasised that the United States remains well-positioned to help regional partners address their energy security challenges", it said without details of the offer or the mechanism for it.
If enforced, the tariff would impact India's exports to the US and come in the way of the trade agreement being negotiated by the two countries.
Later at a news conference, Rubio said, "The law also has and gives the President national security waivers, which allow him to apply them as needed in individual cases".
But he added, "How he'll use it is up to him to decide, and up to him to announce."
"What the President has now is a tool in his toolbox that he can use not just to influence what happens in Russia and Ukraine and in that conflict but potentially what's happening with Iran as well", he said.
India's trade relations with Iran are not significant, unlike with Russia, a major supplier of oil and defence equipment.
It cut down Iranian oil purchases in 2019, and its exports were mostly limited to rice, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals, which are exempt from sanctions on humanitarian grounds.
In the first half of this year, India's exports to Iran were worth only about $400 million, and they are likely to come to a halt because they were routed through the United Arab Emirates, a path now closed due to the Gulf conflict.
The oil and gas imports were worth about $700 million during that period under exemptions it had received.
However, Russian oil plays a bigger role for India, which takes about 37 per cent of Moscow's exports.
Trump had selectively imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India in August last year for buying Russian oil while not punishing China, which buys more oil.
But he cancelled it in February.
When the SRIA, named for the late hawkish Senator Lindsay Graham, was passed, India's External Affairs said defiantly, "India remains firmly committed to ensuring energy security for its 1.4 billion people."
"It will continue to do so through diversified sourcing and based on evolving market dynamics," the ministry said.