US House passes amendment to exempt India under CAATSA over Russian S-400 missile deal

In a major shot in the arm of India over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system, the US House of Committee has passed a legislative amendment through voice vote that exempts New Delhi from the punitive CAATSA sanctions.

Californian Congressman and Indian-origin Ro Khanna introduced the legislative amendment, which urges the 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.

According to PTI news agency, the 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).

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"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," said Khanna said.

"This amendment is of the utmost importance, and I am proud to see it pass the House on a bipartisan basis," he said.

The CAATSA was introduced in 2017 to punish those countries with sanctions who engage in transactions with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.

Under US law, theadministration can impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

In October 2018, India signed the $5.43 billion deal with Russia for five squadrons of S-400 air missile systems. There had been strong bipartisan support for India to be exempted from the sanctions and it was often hinted by US President Joe Biden as well.

The US has already sanctioned Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.

While speaking on the House floor, Khanna asserted that there is no relationship of greater significance to US strategic interests than the US-India partnership.

"My bipartisan NDAA amendment marks the most significant piece of legislation for US-India relations out of Congress since the US-India nuclear deal," Khanna said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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