- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE United States is yet to determine any potential Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) waiver to India in relation to its purchase of S400 missile-defence system from Russia, the Joe Biden administration on Tuesday (23) said.
The US state department made the remark a week after India started receiving the supplies of S400 missile defence system from Moscow and amidst calls from top lawmakers – both Republican and Democratic – not to impose CAATSA sanctions on India.
Asserting that it attaches importance to its “strategic partnership” with India, an official in the state department said the Biden administration’s suspense over the issue by telling the reporters that CAATSA doesn’t have a blanket or country-specific waiver provision attached to it.
“We would need to refer you to the Indian government for any comments on potential deliveries of the S-400 system. But we have been clear when it comes to the system, not only in the Indian context but more broadly as well, that we’ve urged all of our allies, all of our partners to forego transactions with Russia that may risk triggering sanctions under so-called CAATSA, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. We have not made a determination on a potential waiver with respect to Indian arms transactions with Russia,” Ned Price, spokesperson, state department, said.
“CAATSA, however, does not have a blanket or country-specific waiver provision attached to it. We also know that our defence relationship with India has expanded and deepened significantly in recent years. It’s deep and commensurate with the broad and deep relationship that we have with India and its status as a major defence partner,” he said.
“We expect this strong momentum in our defence relationship to continue. We certainly value our strategic partnership with India. As you know, we had an opportunity to travel to India not all that long ago. In August, I believe it was, we’ve met with Foreign Minister Jaishankar many times. We have discussed this concern directly, including with the highest levels in the Indian government,” Price added.
Several members of the US Congress have shown deep interest on the issue.
“It not for us to speak to any systems that the Indian government may or may not have received. It is for us to speak to the laws that are on the books and the requirements under those laws. Obviously, members of Congress are deeply interested in this as well. So, it’s a conversation that has been ongoing with our Indian partners,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s a conversation that takes place in the context of a defense relationship that is meaningful to us, that is important both for United States and India, including in the context of a free and open Indo-Pacific. And so, I suspect those conversations will continue,” Price said.
He also said that 2+2 talks would be held in Washington DC soon.
