The U.S State Department on Thursday said that U.S and India are in ‘very detailed conversations’ after Washington requested it to stop its’s oil imports from Iran, Reuters reported. This year, President Donald Trump imposed economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal.
“We’re asking all of our partners, not just India, to reduce to zero oil imports from Iran and so I’m confident that will be part of our conversation with India,” the state department official told reporters, as the two plus two talks kicked off in succession.
“There are very detailed conversations taking place between the U.S. and India on just the technical issues related to going to zero and those conversations will continue,” he said.
Since the sanctions, Trump has been trying to get other countries to isolate the Islamic Republic, but is so far failing as government officials in India have expressed their want to continue trade ties in oil. To keep them afloat, Iran has extended credit terms and almost free shipping.
An Indian official told Reuters that, “India would not stop Iranian imports but would finalise its strategy on crude buys after this week’s two plus two meeting.”
Earlier, Reuters reported that India had given permission to the country’s state refiners to use Tehran’s tanker and insurance cover.
Both U.S and India signed the high-level COMCASA defence agreement today that would allow India to buy advanced American military hardware, Reuters reported. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman.
