Iran has been an important source of fulfilling India’s oil requirements and the United States “fully understands” it, the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, said here two days after his American counterpart issued waiver to India from Iranian Sanctions Act.

“They (US) fully understand India’s position that we are looking for our energy support from wherever we have been getting our crude oil supplies. Iran has been one of the important sources of fulfilling India’s oil requirements,” Mr Krishna told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

“Even though it is coming down because of international situations, we are looking at other countries like Saudi Arabia to look into our energy needs,” he said.

Energy needs

Mr Krishna emphasised that India takes decision taking into consideration its domestic energy requirements.

Earlier at a separate joint news conference with Mr Krishna at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, Ms Clinton said the two leaders worked through some of the issues that they have fielded in common because of the concerns about Iran’s continuing search for a nuclear weapon.

“India has made it clear that, you know, Iran, like all countries, must live up to their international obligations. And as I reported to Congress this week, India has taken steps to diversify its sources of imported crude by reducing purchases of Iranian oil,” she said.

“We recognise the important energy needs that India has, and we’re working with India not only to ensure stable oil markets, but to do more to open up other sources of energy for India,” Ms Clinton said.

During the Strategic Dialogue while Ms Clinton updated Mr Krishna on the P-5 plus one talks with Iran, the External Affairs Minister conveyed to the Secretary of State, India’s vital interest in settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue.

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