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The American bid to bring India on board on the Iran sanctions issue appears to have dominated the discussions that Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had here with top US officials and lawmakers over the past two days.
Although Mathai is understood to have reiterated the importance of Iranian oil to meet India’s energy needs, lawmakers advanced the view that New Delhi could and should effectively tap other supply sources.
At the State Department, where Mathai held extensive discussions, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was working together with India on the question of reducing New Delhi’s dependence on Iranian oil.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dropped by in the course of the meeting between Mathai and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. The senior lawmakers that the Foreign Secretary called on included Senators John McCain, Richard Lugar and Joe Lieberman, and Representa-tives Ileana Ross-Lehtinen, Howard Berman and Mike Rogers.
Civil nuclear deal, defence cooperation, Af-Pak situation and preparations for the third round of US-India strategic dialogue in Washington in summer were taken up.
“We were pleased to host Indian Foreign Secretary Mathai. He was here for a full day of extremely comprehensive talks. The Secretary dropped by on Deputy Secretary Burns’ meetings with him,” Nuland told reporters later.
Mathai also had more than four hours of consultations with Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman as part of the regular foreign office consultations.
Although Mathai is understood to have reiterated the importance of Iranian oil to meet India’s energy needs, lawmakers advanced the view that New Delhi could and should effectively tap other supply sources.
At the State Department, where Mathai held extensive discussions, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was working together with India on the question of reducing New Delhi’s dependence on Iranian oil.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dropped by in the course of the meeting between Mathai and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. The senior lawmakers that the Foreign Secretary called on included Senators John McCain, Richard Lugar and Joe Lieberman, and Representa-tives Ileana Ross-Lehtinen, Howard Berman and Mike Rogers.
Civil nuclear deal, defence cooperation, Af-Pak situation and preparations for the third round of US-India strategic dialogue in Washington in summer were taken up.
“We were pleased to host Indian Foreign Secretary Mathai. He was here for a full day of extremely comprehensive talks. The Secretary dropped by on Deputy Secretary Burns’ meetings with him,” Nuland told reporters later.
Mathai also had more than four hours of consultations with Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman as part of the regular foreign office consultations.
