US legislators approve India’s CAATSA waiver over S-400 purchase from Russia
The US House of Representatives allegedly accepted a legislative amendment by voice vote that exempts India from harsh CAATSA sanctions in return for India acquiring the S-400 missile defense system from Russia to help deter aggressors like China. During floor discussion of the National Defense Authorization Act, the legislative change was approved on Thursday as part of an en bloc (all at once) amendment (NDAA).
The amendment urges the Joe Biden administration to use its authority to give India a CAATSA waiver to help deter aggressors like China. It was drafted and sponsored by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna.
According to the PTI article, CAATSA gives the US government the right to impose penalties on nations that buy significant amounts of Russian defense equipment. This development occurred in response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 and its suspected interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.
The 17th congressional district of California’s Ro Khanna, a US representative, declared that in the face of growing Chinese aggression, the US must stand with India. In my role as Vice Chair of the India Caucus, I have been working to improve the relationship between our nations and make sure that India can defend itself along the border with China. This amendment is of the highest significance, and I am pleased to see that it has bipartisan support in the House.
The cooperation between the US and India, according to Khanna, is the one that is most important to US strategic interests. He said that my bipartisan NDAA amendment represents the most significant piece of legislation for US-India ties out of Congress since the US-India nuclear deal.
