New Delhi: On his visit to India US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the intention of United States was not to penalize great strategic partners like India but it wants all countries like India to cut oil imports from Iran to “zero” by the end of November.

“We have told the Indians consistently, as we have told every nation, that on November 4th the sanctions with respect to Iranian crude oil will be enforced. We will consider waivers where appropriate, but that it is our expectation that the purchases of Iranian crude oil will go to zero from every country, or sanctions will be imposed,” he said.

In an attempt by the US to bolster strategic ties with India including defense and security collaboration, a first 2+2 Dialogue was held in New Delhi between Mr. Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis from US and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of India.

After Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Iran is the third largest oil supplier to India. During the period of April 2017 and January 2018, a whopping 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil was supplied by Iran.

Responding to a query by journalists from the US who were traveling with him, Mr. Pompeo said that the United States is looking forward to letting the planned purchase of a Russian missile and air-defense system known as S-400 by India happen.

India has planned to purchase five S-400 Triumf missile air defense systems from Russia at a cost of USD 4.5 billion to step up its defense systems.

Due to the deal with Russia, India will be violating sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) instituted by Congress over arms buying from Russia, but according to the lawmakers, it may get a presidential waiver.

“There’s been no decision made. But I will share that we do understand the history, right, of India’s relationship with Russia and legacy systems. Our effort here, too, is not to penalize great strategic partners like India, a major defence partner.

“The sanctions aren’t intended to adversely impact countries like India. They are intended to be a – have an impact on the sanctioned country, which is Russia,” the secretary of state said.

India is on the path to replace its aging old systems of defense and equip with hi-tech and state of the art technologies.

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