Indian government officials can expect heavy diplomatic pressure from their United States counterparts in the coming days on the question of imposing sanctions on the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

In an interview with CBS News, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lashed out against Indian and Chinese involvement in the oil and gas industry in Syria, a key source of revenue for the country. “We want to see India [take steps towards imposing sanctions alongside the U.S.], because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria,” Ms. Clinton said.

The U.S. has upped the ante on Syria following a brutal crackdown by Mr. Assad's forces on pro-democracy protestors. According to some sources approximately 1,700 demonstrators have died with “tens of thousands” reportedly arrested. On Friday there were reports of a fresh crackdown with troops opening fire on “thousands of protesters” in the north and east of the country.

When asked about the U.S. role in the Syrian oil and gas sector, Ms. Clinton said: “We have such a small stake in what they produce and what they market. The real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others... We have been upping the sanctions... but we want others to follow, because Syria was not one of our major economic partners.”

While the U.S. has relatively few economic links with Syria and hence lacks any real leverage, this week it tightened its economic noose around Syria slapping the Commercial Bank of Syria, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank and Syriatel, the largest mobile phone operator in Syria, with sanctions.