"India's Oil Imports Track U.S. Sanctions Pressure, Data Show"
CAATSA
US law (2017) enabling secondary sanctions on entities trading with Russia, Iran, or North Korea
JCPOA
2015 Iran nuclear deal curbing its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief
India imports more than four-fifths of the crude oil it uses. This makes energy security central to its economic and foreign policy choices. Three countries have faced US-led sanctions: Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. At different times, each offered India cheaper or more accessible crude. Venezuela holds the world's largest proven crude oil reserves. Yet it has faced a long economic and political crisis. Large-scale emigration has also occurred. These conditions made it a target of years of US sanctions. Iran's case followed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of 2015. Under this nuclear deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme. In exchange, Iran received sanctions relief. The US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. It then reimposed sanctions. India's oil imports from Iran fell sharply after this. Russia became a major supplier only after Western sanctions followed its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions pushed its crude price down. India then bought large volumes of this discounted oil.
The US has used the threat of secondary sanctions in all three cases. These are penalties applied not to the sanctioned country itself. Instead, they target third parties like India that keep trading with it. The same logic was used in 2018 under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). India's purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defence system risked US sanctions. That dispute was resolved through a limited waiver. The current dispute over Russian oil imports uses the same coercive logic. This time it works through a proposed Bill in the US Congress rather than CAATSA itself.
Secondary sanctions work by threatening to cut a third country's banks, companies, or officials off from the US financial system. They do this if the third country keeps dealing with the sanctioned country. Most global trade and oil payments still move through dollar-based channels. So even countries that are not themselves sanctioned face strong pressure to comply. They risk losing access to US markets, technology, and finance if they do not. This gives Washington leverage far beyond its own borders.
India's actual behaviour across the Venezuela, Iran, and Russia episodes shows a consistent pattern. When US pressure rises, through new sanctions, an expiring waiver, or a direct threat like the present tariff Bill, India's imports from the affected country drop quickly. …
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
Recently, Venezuela has achieved rapid recovery from its economic crisis and succeeded in preventing its people from fleeing/emigrating to other countries.
Statement-II:
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Consider the following statements regarding the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA):
1.It was enacted by the US Congress in 2017.
2.It allows secondary sanctions against third countries trading with Russia, Iran, or North Korea.
3.India has never faced any sanctions-related dispute under CAATSA.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Match List-I (Country) with List-II (Sanctions/Energy-related fact) and select the correct answer using the codes given below:
List-I:
A.Venezuela
B.Iran
C.Russia
List-II:
1.Subject to a G7 oil price cap mechanism introduced in 2022
2.Holds the world's largest proven crude oil reserves
3.Party to the JCPOA nuclear deal signed in 2015
Consider the following statements regarding 'secondary sanctions':
1.They are sanctions imposed directly on the government of the targeted country.
2.They penalise third-party countries or entities that continue to trade with a sanctioned country.
3.They typically function by threatening the third party's access to the US dollar-based financial system.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following statements about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is correct?
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