External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to her US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Saturday about flexibility in US sanctions on Iranian oil imports but America’s top diplomat was non-committal, people familiar with developments said. India, which imports more than 80% of the crude oil it processes, gets about 10% of its supplies from Iran on concessional terms, including deferred payments and shipping at the expense of Tehran. The US decision not to give further exemptions to the sanctions is expected to disrupt energy supplies from Iran. However, the Indian government said last week it had put in place a “robust plan” to ensure the US sanctions don’t affect supplies of crude oil to refineries. The ending of the exemptions was not aimed specifically at India or intended to pit India against Iran, they added.

Source: Hindustan Times April 30, 2019 01:52 UTC