The US seeks greater trade and energy cooperation with its ally India, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said, while acknowledging friction between the countries over New Delhi’s import of discounted Russian oil under sanctions.
Wright made the remarks at a press conference organized at the New York Foreign Press Centre on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the high-level United Nations General Assembly session.
He highlighted that India has a rapidly growing energy demand due to increasing prosperity and opportunity among its people. “I’m a huge fan of India; we love India. We look forward to more energy trade, more interactions back and forth with India,” he said.
Wright was responding to a question by PTI on recent comments by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal about expanding energy trade with Washington and that India’s energy security goals will have a high element of US involvement.
“And then India is caught up in the middle of another issue,” Wright said, referring to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil. He added that US concern remains over the flow of sanctioned Russian oil to countries like India, China, and Turkiye, which he said is helping fund the war in Ukraine.
Wright further noted, “US President Donald Trump’s greatest passion is achieving peace in the world. When I talk to him, it does not matter what the topic is, peace comes up. How can we use our tools and leverage to drive peace? And the Russian war in Ukraine, of course, is brutal. We all want to see it come to an end.”
The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on India as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on the country by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.
Trade between the two countries remains significant. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India’s total goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent in the country’s total merchandise trade.
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