US sanctions on Russia to hit Indian Military projects with Moscow
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WASHINGTON- The United States cannot expect India to abruptly stop using Russian military hardware, a top US military commander has told the US Senate. India's use of Russian arms came up during a hearing on how the wording of a recent US law imposing sanctions on Russia could hurt the American relationship with its partners and allies.
The law in question is the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed by the US Congress in July 2017 and signed into law by Donald Trump in August. The law is aimed at sanctioning Russia for its interference in the 2016 US elections and its continued military engagements in Ukraine and Syria. The law also imposes sanctions on individuals and countries that deal with Russia's intelligence and defence sectors.
And these are the provisions that could put the US foreign policy and defence establishment in a bind with their expanding cooperation with India. Considering India's continuing and significant use of Russian military hardware and its joint development of defence projects like BrahMos and the negotiations over the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA, it would qualify to be sanctioned by the US government under Section 231 of CAATSA.
The sanctions include blocking of licences and permissions for any US entity to export a significantly large number of items to India. The restrictions on this front would include any arms sale or the transfer of nuclear equipment or technology.
The US and India are in the process of working out multiple nuclear power plant and arms sale projects.
The strains that CAATSA could place on the India-US relationship was in focus at a hearing of the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of the US Pacific Command, told the committee that India is "a key partner and a great strategic opportunity".
