On Tuesday the US approved a Russian Sanction bill which calls for 100% tariffs on the top five buyers of Russian oil and energy products. India, which is among the five countries, are said to be directly affected from the bipartisan bill authored by late Senator Lindsey Graham. Apart from the sanctions on the countries purchasing Russian oil and energy products, the legislation also calls for sanction against Iran to limit its ability to sustain its wartime economy which was added at Trump’s request, according to reports.
In a joint statement, Republican and Democratic senators after the bill was passed said ,”We are proud to announce an agreement on legislation to stop purchasers of Russian oil and gas from fueling Putin’s war machine and to continue restricting the Iranian regime’s ability to support terrorism and build its nuclear program.” It added that there was no better way according to them to honour the legacy of Senator Graham.
The long stalled bill was cleared on Graham’s funeral day in Washington which was attended by President Trump and his guests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The US Senator died on July 11 following a brief and sudden illness.
What is the bill and how will it impact India?
The US Senate voted 86 for 12 to bass the bill aimed at chocking Russia’s revenue from oil and exports.Since the initiation of the war between the US and Iran India has been a major importer of Russian oil. During the pre war period from December to February, imports worth Rs 42,506 crore were settled in local currency, equl to 2.4% of total inbound shipments. It would impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, financial institutions besides shadow fleet used to evade Moscow’s oil exports. It would authorize Trump to impose tariffs upto 100% on goods from major purchasers of Russian oil and gas, mainly China and India. However, an exception for countries importing less than 15 per cent has also been included.