Days before the India-US two-plus-two dialogue, India on Tuesday indicated that it would be guided by its national interest and not compulsion from any country as the threat of US sanctions looms large on Delhi’s relationship with Iran to a great extent, and with Russia to some extent. While New Delhi will urge Washington to keep in mind India’s “strategic relations” with Russia as it asks for a waiver from CAATSA, it will cite “economic challenges” when it comes to rapid reduction of oil imports from Iran. These are the two issues that are expected to be a challenge in the Indo-US relationship. While the US has shown flexibility on Russia, it has been quite stern on Iran. As US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, a source said, “We hope the US will keep in mind the strategic relations we have with Russia.” Read | Ahead of 2+2 dialogue, US to Delhi: Will call out Pak for not doing enough against terror groups New Delhi has always maintained that its defence relationship is one of the key pillars of the relationship with Russia, and a weaker India is not in the interest of the US. India has made it clear that the S-400 deal is extremely key for India’s security needs, and it is to go ahead with that. The US has passed a waiver for India, but the US President has to personally certify the exemption of each such deal. With the US administration under Donald Trump pushing for sanctions against Iran, the source described the relationship with Iran as “a major relationship” in the region, and while Delhi believes that it would not like Iran to become a nuclear weapon state, it does favour its “access to peaceful nuclear energy”. Express Opinion | Where interests meet With the US pulling out of the JCPOA, New Delhi feels that should be resolved between the “parties” of the agreement, and India is guided by the UNSCR 2231 of 2015, which makes it an international agreement. Read | Hotline, Naval liaison, intel sharing: India-US 2+2 pacts on table While the US administration has been pushing India to cut oil imports from Iran, sources said that India’s record in reducing oil imports gradually from 2012 to 2015 was evident, but any rapid reduction - like what the Trump administration wants - has economic costs in terms of inflation and fuel price hikes in India.
