US defence secy Mattis seeks waiver for India from sanctions on Russia
: US defence secretary James Mattis on Thursday urged lawmakers to grant the administration “flexible waiver authority” for Russia-related sanctions that seek to punish third countries, such as India, which make significant military purchases from Russia.
“It is important for us to have a flexible waiver authority, otherwise we prevent ourselves from acting in our own best interest and place an undue burden on our allies or partners,” Mattis said in his prepared remarks at a hearing of the US Senate armed services committee on the defence budget for 2019.
In response to a question about affected countries he had in mind, he named India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Mattis urged the lawmakers to grant the waiver as soon as this year.
The waiver he sought was from punitive actions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that was passed by Congress in 2017 and went into effect in January. It seeks to punish Russia for military intervention in Syria and Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
The law also seeks to punish third countries that make “significant transactions” with Russia in the military and intelligence sectors.
Mattis’ appeal to Congress will be noted and welcomed in New Delhi as CAATSA sanctions were said to have put India and the US on a collision course that could be averted only by a waiver, experts have said.
India proposes to buy several S-400 Triumf air defence systems from Russia at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion and initialled an agreement in October 2016, though the final order has been delayed by price negotiations. There have been indications that the two countries are close to clinching the deal.
Given the implications of CAATSA, about which Indian and American officials have had some conversations, New Delhi has quietly conveyed to Washington that it would like the sanctions to be waived. This is an authority currently vested in the president, according to the act.
At stake for India is not just the S-400 deal, but also long-term defence needs.