US not to impose sanctions upon India under CAATSA for missile deal with Russia
New Delhi. In a big relief for India, the US has decided not to impose sanctions under its stringent law Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchasing S-400 missile systems from Russia. After New Delhi’s purchase of the S-400 air defense system, there was a threat of US sanctions but the Indian government had always been confident of bypassing these. This has been made possible as the US House of Representatives passed a legislative amendment waiving off any punitive sanctions on India under CAATSA. The move comes after US House of Representatives approved Indian-origin Congressman Ro Khanna’s amendment to the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday. Reacting to the development, Ro Khanna said the move will further strengthen US and India’s defence partnership. According to the international political observers the US has withdrawn its tough stand against India because of the relationship between the two countries and especially after the recent setbacks of US in Afghanistan and the prolonged war between Ukraine and Russia, the US government had to remain soft in India’s defense deal with Russia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong hold in the present World political scenario has also played a key role in the US move, according to some of the political observers
Ever since India signed the S-400 air defense system deal with Russia, there have been continuous reports that the US may impose sanctions on India. Now that Russia has started the delivery of S-400 to India, once again the debate on the possibilities of US sanctions were in the air. However, after a prolonged contemplation now America has made its point regarding the matter and announced that it will not impose any sanctions upon India for its missile deal with Russia.
Meanwhile, some of the US senators have been of the view that India should end its dependence on Russian defense systems. In the last few years, India has increased defense imports from the US. However, despite all this, Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier. For India, the major cause for concern was the law effected in the year 2017, namely- “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) passed by the US. The purpose of this law is to teach a lesson to Iran, Russia and North Korea. The same law could impose at least five of the 12 sanctions listed for dealings with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors. The US imposed sanctions on Turkey, a longtime NATO ally, in December 2020 over the purchase of the S-400
