The US House of Representatives has passed by voice vote a legislative amendment that approves waiver to India against the punitive CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia to help deter aggressors like China. The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
Authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, the amendment urges the Biden administration to use its authority to provide India with a Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) waiver to help deter aggressors like China.
CAATSA is a tough US law that authorises the US administrationto impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.
“The United States must stand with India in the face of escalating aggression from China. As Vice Chair of the India Caucus, I havebeen working to strengthen the partnership between our countriesand ensure that India can defend itself along the Indian Chineseborder,” said Khanna, the US representative from California’s 17th congressional district.” This amendment is of the utmost importance, and I am proud to see it pass the House on a bipartisan basis,” he said.
The law was brought in 2017 and provides for punitive actions by the US Government against any country engaged in transactions with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
In October 2018, India signed a $ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the then-Trump administration that going ahead withthe contract may invite US sanctions.
The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.