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US expected to demand India buy their THAAD missile, not Russian S-400

US expected to demand India buy their THAAD missile, not Russian S-400

THAAD

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India's answer is expected to be no, which means the US will invoke CAATSA or Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act against it

Call it blackmail but the US is expected to demand that India buy their THAAD or terminal high altitude area defence system when Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj land in Washington next month for the 2+2 dialogue.

The Americans want India to dump the Russian S-400 missile defence system, of which India is buying 5 regiments for $5 billion even though negotiations are more or less complete.

India's answer is expected to be no, which means the US will invoke CAATSA or Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act against it.

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India could face the full weight of American sanctions unless Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are able to convince the US Congress that India deserves a waiver. They may in turn demand a commitment from India that it pare the Russian weapons and weapons platforms used by its military.

India has been diversifying its weapons sources away from Russia, but no foreign country can tell India what to buy and from where.

The S-400 after all is widely acknowledged to be better than the THAAD.