We will work it out, says US on sanctions over S-400 deal

We will sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead... We will work everything out, trust me. JAMES MATTIS, US defence secy

WASHINGTON: US defence secretary James Mattis expressed confidence on Monday, before and during a meeting with his visiting Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, that both sides will “work everything out” on the threat of sanctions confronting India over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems.

Waiting for the Indian defence minister’s arrival at the Pentagon, Mattis told reporters, when asked about the S-400 deal, “we’ll sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead” and sought to portray discussions on the issue as “normal collaboration and consultation”.

“We’ll work everything out, trust me,” Mattis said in response to another specific question about the S-400 deal asked by a reporter before the he and Sitharaman went into closed-door formal talks, accompanied by military and diplomatic officials.

In her remarks, Sitharaman gave no explicit indication that the threat of US sanctions for the S-400 purchase was an issue she wanted to raise. But she did say, “I look forward to spending some time on specifics of the issues that we have been engaged in, building on the discussions and out- comes of the 2+2 meetings.”

In September in New Delhi, India and the US held the first 2+2 meeting between their foreign and defence ministers, who signed an agreement that will allow the militaries of the two countries to securely communicate with each other.

Despite Mattis’s reassuring words, diplomatic officials on both sides warned that India should be careful to “not take one waiver as a blanket waiver” and feel encouraged to pursue more such deals with Russia. Officials who spoke on conditions of anonymity said “these daily press leaks of arms deals with Russians” were the kind of “unnecessary provocation” that India and the US could well do without.

India recently placed an order for five S-400 missile defence systems — for an estimated $ 5 billion — despite the prospects of the deal attracting secondary sanctions under a US law — Counter- ing American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, better knownbytheacronymcaatsa, that seeks to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 elections and grabbing Crimea from Ukraine by scaring away their major importers, such as India.

India hopes, and is somewhat confident, it will get a waiver from the sanction given the state of ties between the two countries, but it has not received any specific assurance yet and is nervous about reports that US President Donald Trump is personally opposed to the proliferation of S-400s, which are also on the shopping list of NATO ally, Turkey. The Trump administration recently sanctioned a Chinese military wing for buying these missile defence systems and went as far as to designate by name the official heading it.

India has felt encouraged by the support it has received on this from secretary Mattis, who has emerged as the staunchest supporter of stronger US ties with India among all of the Trump administration’s top officials. It was something that was acknowledged by the Indian defence minister in her remarks at the Pentagon. “We deeply acknowledge the warmth shown by you, and your responsiveness to India’s sensitivities,” she’d said.