India's Jaishankar's cautious response to US lawmaker's proposed '500% tariff' bill - Here's what he said

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday (July 3) gave a cautious response to a query regarding the United States' proposed law that seeks to impose crippling tariffs on Russia's trade partners, including India, saying New Delhi will "cross that bridge when we come to it". He, however, said that India's concerns as to its security and energy were communicated to American lawmaker Lindsey Graham, who promulgated the bill.

The proposed bill seeks to impose 500 per cent tariffs on countries trading with Russia despite US sanctions on Moscow over the latter's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. India and China are among the top importers of Russian energy products.

Since Russia's invasion, Jaishankar has been defending India's decision to buy oil at discounted rates from Moscow, saying the government is doing what's best for its people. He has also called out the reliance of European energy security on Russian gas.

Jaishankar yesterday said the proposed law was of interest to India.

"Regarding Senator Lindsey Graham's bill, any development which is happening in the US Congress is of interest to us if it impacts our interest or could impact our interest," he said at a press conference in Washington.

"Our concerns and our interests on energy, security have been made conversant to him (Lindsey Graham). So we'll then have to cross that bridge when we come to it. If we come to it," he added.

Graham, a proponent of tougher economic sanctions on Russia, says the legislation aims to pressure nations like India and China into stopping buying oil from Russia. The oil trade, according to the lawmaker, provides Moscow with economic muscles to continue the protracted war in Ukraine.

He hopes that the bill, if passed, will weaken Russia's war economy and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a favourable ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

"Big breakthrough here. So what does this bill do? If you're buying products from Russia and you're not helping Ukraine, then there's a 500 per cent tariff on your products coming into the United States. India and China buy 70 per cent of Putin's oil. They keep his war machine going. My bill has 84 co-sponsors. It would allow the president to put tariffs on China and India and other countries to get them -- stop them from supporting Putin's war machine, to get him to the table," the US senator told ABC.

Prior to the war, India, one of the largest oil-importing nations, used to meet most of its energy needs from the Middle East. However, the economic sanctions imposed by the US on Russia since the war paved the way for an alternate avenue for New Delhi as it started importing huge quantities of oil from Moscow at discounted prices. The enhanced trading helped Russia economically, which had been reeling under pressure exerted by several European nations by declining to purchase its oil.