Arms deal to invite sanctions

India intends to buy S-400 defence missiles from Russia

Washington, Oct. 4: The US has urged its allies to forgo transactions with Russia, warning that the S-400 missile defence system that India intends to buy would be a “focus area” for it to implement punitive sanctions against a nation undertaking “significant” business deals with the Russians.

The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act or CAATSA to impose sanctions on any country that has “significant transactions” with Iran, North Korea or Russia. The Act primarily deals with sanctions on Russian interests such as its oil and gas industry, defence and security sector, and financial institutions, in the backdrop of its military intervention in Ukraine and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US Presidential elections.

“We urge all of our allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that would trigger sanctions under CAATSA,” a state department spokesperson said on Wednesday when asked about India’s plan to purchase multi-billion S-400 missile defense system from Russia.

“The administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability — including the S-400 air and missile defense system,” the spokesperson said.

According to a media report, India and Russia will sign a deal for the multi-billion-dollar S-400 surface-to-air missile system this week. Moscow has been negotiating to sell the S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles to India for months. The signing of the deal for Moscow’s most advanced air defence system will be overseen by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is visiting New Delhi on October 4-5 for the annual IndiaRussia summit, the report said quoting a top Kremlin official said.

In September, a senior administration official said that purchase of major military system like multi-billion S-400 missile defense system

would be considered as a “significant transaction and thus has a potential” for CAATSA sanctions.

The official said that the ultimate target of these sanctions was Russia.

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