*NEW DELHI: India is hopeful it will avoid US sanctions over its purchaseof Russia’s S-400 missile system, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman toldAFP.*
New Delhi has been “heard and understood” by the US administration over itsaccord to buy the S-400 missile defence system for $5.2 billion, theminister said in an interview this week.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the deal with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in October, defying US warnings of sanctions on countriesbuying Russian military equipment. The sanctions were part of measures topunish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine in 2014.
President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on China’smilitary last year over Beijing’s purchase of the S-400 and other militaryhardware.
It has also warned NATO member Turkey of sanctions for buying the S-400,and has suspended Turkey’s participation in a US jet programme.
Sitharaman told AFP that Washington has taken on board that India,bordering both Pakistan and China, needed arms from Russia, and others, toremain a “strong partner”.
Negotiations with Moscow, a longstanding supplier to India’s military, onthe S-400 began before the US sanctions were introduced, she said.
“In the case of S-400 we have explained ourselves well… That has been heardand understood,” Sitharaman said. “They have appreciated the point of viewput forward.”
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Asked if she was confident that India would avoid sanctions, Sitharamansaid: “Yes I hope so.”*Cold water*
Before the deal was inked, Washington poured cold water on India’s effortsto obtain a waiver from the US Countering America’s Adversaries ThroughSanctions Act (CAATSA).
Upgrades in arms systems “including the S-400 air and missile defensesystem” would be a particular focus for CAATSA, a US State Departmentspokesperson was quoted as saying by India’s PTI news agency.
But Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-PacificSecurity Affairs, told a hearing in March that Washington wanted to “workthrough” the problem, calling India “an important emerging strategicpartner.”
He added however that India’s contract with Russia has not been completedand that the US was “very keen to see (India) make an alternative choice(to the S-400) and we are working with them to provide potentialalternatives.” – APP/AFP
