NEW DELHI: The United States on Saturday said that it was looking to meet India’s massive energy needs, days after US President Donald Trump signed the ‘Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026’, which authorises him to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries buying Russian oil and gas.“We are looking to also become a huge source of India’s energy needs. We’re increasing our hydrocarbon exports,” a senior US state department official told news agency PTI.“The demands are great, and the needs for oil are there. We are looking for alternatives. But I would say before even the war, India had been looking to diversify when it came to energy for a long time. It’s not a new concept. We just need to expedite it faster,” he added.The US official also played down New Delhi’s warning over the contentious law and said that India’s response was expected after the US Congress took a pretty hard approach, especially publicly.“India has been looking for a long time to diversify its energy sources. They’re a country that has massive energy needs,” the official told PTI.“You had members of Congress calling out India in particular, so of course India has to respond. We understand that. They have a domestic constituency, as do we. Like, there are no sort of hard feelings on any of that kind of activity,” he added.Last week, the ministry of external affairs warned the US of the legislation’s potential impact on the US-India relationship.
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“This issue has been discussed at high levels in recent months with various US interlocutors. Its potential implications for not just the bilateral relationship but also the international energy market have been very clearly articulated by the Indian side,” the ministry said.The official said that the new act gave President Trump a new tool in his toolbox.“That doesn’t necessarily mean he deploys it tomorrow, but he has the opportunity to. His focus is on ending this war. It’s been something he campaigned on and something he’s been dedicated to from the beginning,” he said.“We’re looking for our friends, especially like India, to help support that effort. But I think you’ll have to stay tuned on how the bill gets implemented. But there is a broad national security waiver, so you can imagine also the president, there’s a scenario, the president uses that as well,” he added.“Now, with President Trump’s incredibly successful operation in Venezuela, we are moving into a better position that countries like India are going to be able to get access to that market,” he added.