Table of Contents
NOTES
• There is growing concern that India might come under US sanctions related to CAATSA – Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 – if it buys the S400
missile defence system from Russia.
• The potential Rs 39,000-crore
• Five S-400 Triumf systems, an antiaircraft missile array that can also intercept missiles.
COUNTERING AMERICA’S ADVERSARIES THROUGH SANCTIONS ACT
•CAATSA a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
•Title II of 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.
DETAILS
• Section 231 of the Act empowers the US President to impose at least five of the 12 listed sanctions — enumerated in Section 235 of the Act — on persons engaged in a “significant
transaction” with Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
• Two of the most stringent of these sanctions are the export licence restriction by which the US President is authorized to suspend export licences related to munitions, dual-use and
nuclear related items; and the ban on American investment in equity/debt of the sanctioned person.
NOTES
•Since 2008, the US has bagged more than $15 billion in arms deals including for the C-17
Globemaster and C-130J transport planes, P-8 (I) maritime reconnaissance aircraft, M777 lightweight howitzer, Harpoon missiles, and Apache and Chinook helicopters.
IMPLICATION ON INDIA
• India’s planned procurement from Russia, particularly the S-400 air defence system, Project 1135.6 frigates and Ka226T helicopters, will come under the immediate scanner.
• CAATSA is likely to affect all the joint ventures (JVs) – existing or planned — between Indian and Russian defence companies.
Some of the existing JVs that may come under the scanner are:
Indo Russian Aviation Ltd, Multi-Role Transport Aircraft Ltd and Brahmos Aerospace.
INDIA SHOULD GET A WAIVER
• Many remember the corrosive effects of US sanctions following India’s nuclear tests in 1998, which took a decade of hard work to fix.
• “Americans don’t remember and Indians can’t forget.”
• The US Congress has to act to prevent a repeat of history because this time sanctions will also hurt the United States. The 2018 US National Security Strategy envisions an expansion of defence and security cooperation with India and welcomes its “emergence as a
leading global power.”
•The Pentagon gets it. Secretary of Defence James Mattis has argued strongly in favour of exempting India from CAATSA in front of the Senate.
• Sanctioning India, Vietnam and Indonesia would eventually “paralyse” the US and reward Russia.
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