India, which imports 12 percent of its oil from the Islamic Republic, cannot do without Iranian oil, Mukherjee said.
“It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them,” Mukherjee told reporters in Chicago at the end of a two-day visit.
New US sanctions, authorised on 31 December and which penalise any financial institutions dealing with Iran’s central bank, could make it more difficult for India to pay Iran for oil imports.
The European Union banned oil imports from Iran earlier this month.