NEW DELHI. India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a Thursdaybriefing that New Delhi would go ahead with the purchase of Russia-madeS-400 air defence systems despite the threat of US sanctions.
“I really cannot share how are we going to tackle the whole issue. Wealready have contract which has been signed and you already know that stepsare being undertaken to implement the contract. We are engaged and we haveengaged with the US administration as well as the US Congress on the issueof CAATSA”, the spokesperson said.
The official was referring to the Countering America’s Adversaries ThroughSanctions Act, a 2017 law that gives Washington the right to imposeeconomic restrictions on any state if it decides to acquire militaryequipment from Russia.
The spokesperson said that “defence cooperation between India and the US isan important component of our strategic partnership”, just like withRussia.
The comments come less than a week after India’s NDTV cited an unnamedsenior US State Department official as claiming that New Delhi’s decisionto buy Russian S-40ss could undermine the country’s future defencecooperation with Washington.
The insider stressed that exemptions from sanctions under CAATSA are notautomatically granted, but rather reviewed individually for each case,therefore India is not fully protected from falling under them.
India and Russia inked a $5.43 billion deal for S-400 air defence missilesystems last October, with the first batch set to be delivered in October2020. The remaining four will join the Indian Air Force by 2023. The UnitedStates warned at the time that in line with CAATSA, sanctions could not beruled out.
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In April, then-Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed hopethat New Delhi would avoid penalties over the purchase of Russian militaryequipment.
“In the case of S-400 we have explained ourselves well. That has been heardand understood. They have appreciated the point of view put forward”, shetold AFP.
Her statement came after US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-PacificSecurity Affairs Randall Schriver told a hearing in March that Washingtonwanted to “work through” the issue raised by India’s S-400 deal withRussia.
The US was “very keen to see [India] make an alternative choice [to theS-400] and we are working with them to provide potential alternatives”, hesaid back then.
Aside from India, the US has tried to convince Turkey to abandon the S-400deal with Moscow, threatening to introduce sanctions and kick Ankara out ofthe F-35 fighter jet programme. Ankara, for its part, has consistentlystressed that it would not bow down to US threats and reaffirmed itscommitment to the deal. -Sputnik
