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US House approves sanctions waiver over India’s S-400 missile deal with Russia
- ‘The United States must stand with India in the face of escalating aggression from China,’ said Ro Khanna, the Indian-American Congressman who introduced the amendment
The United States House of Representatives has reportedly passed by voice vote a legislative amendment that approves waiver to India against the punitive CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia to help deter aggressors like China.
The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), the news agency PTI reported.
The amendment has been authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna and it urges the Joe Biden administration to use its authority to provide India with a Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) waiver to help deter aggressors like China.
The PTI report notified that CAATSA authorises the US administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia. This development was in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.
Ro Khanna, the US representative from California's 17th congressional district said, "the United States must stand with India in the face of escalating aggression from China. As Vice Chair of the India Caucus, I have been working to strengthen the partnership between our countries and ensure that India can defend itself along the Indian Chinese border. This amendment is of the utmost importance, and I am proud to see it pass the House on a bipartisan basis."
Additionally, Khanna said there is no relationship of greater significance to US strategic interests than the US-India partnership, noting, "my bipartisan NDAA amendment marks the most significant piece of legislation for US-India relations out of Congress since the US-India nuclear deal."
Notably, the law was brought in 2017 and provides for punitive actions by the US government against any country engaged in transactions with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors. It is important to note that in October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the then-Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions. The S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, according to PTI report.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Business NewsNewsWorldUS House approves sanctions waiver over India’s S-400 missile deal with Russia
First Published:15 Jul 2022, 11:48 AM IST
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