US waiver to India, 7 other nations

New Delhi: The US will give waivers to eight countries including India, China, Japan and South Korea for exemption from the November 4 deadline of stopping Iranian oil imports completely, a report put out by global business news agency Bloomberg said on Friday. It said US secretary of state Michael Pompeo would announce the waivers later on Friday (late Friday night or early Saturday morning IST). The report mentioned that the waivers are being granted in exchange for continued import cuts so as not to drive up oil prices. A waiver means that New Delhi along with the other seven countries can continue buying Iranian oil even after November 4 without attracting US sanctions and would come as a huge relief to India which relies heavily on foreign oil imports to meet its energy demands. The US had set that deadline for countries across the globe to either fall in line or face US sanctions. There were indications on Thursday itself that India could receive the US waiver  but New Delhi is waiting for the formal announcement by the US. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said on Thursday that New Delhi had already made the US aware of India’s requirements for oil imports that he said were “critical for sustaining economic growth”. New Delhi is expected to continue to try to convince the United States that it should not insist on a scenario of zero import by India of Iranian oil even in future.