Will USA make a potential waiver of sanction against India? Is the decision made yet? Check it out!
USA said that it has not made any determination on a potential waiver of sanction against India as Russia started to deliver the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems to India. As justified by a state department spokesperson it is because the Contering America’s Adversaries Through Sanction Act (CAATSA) does not have a country-specific waiver provision.
New Delhi and Moscow has signed a USF 5.43 billion deal to facilitate the purchase of S-400 surface to air missile systems by India in the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit organized in the October of 2019 in New Delhi for the purpose of fulfilling long term security requirements. Washington has claimed that the deal may trigger the US Federal law CAATSA which has imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia.
CAATSA enables the Biden led administration to impose sanctions on countries that makes a purchase of 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.
US senators wanted an action from the administration to waive sanctions against India, so in response to this a US State Department spokesman stated that CAATSA does not have a blanket or country-specific waiver provision.
He said, “We urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that risk triggering sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). We have not made a determination on a potential waiver with respect to Indian arms transactions with Russia. CAATSA does not have a blanket or country-specific waiver provision.”
He further added, “The US-India defence partnership has expanded significantly in recent years, commensurate with India’s status as a major defence partner. We expect this strong momentum in our defence partnership to continue. We value our strategic partnership with India.”
