The US House of Representatives has passed by voice vote a legislative amendment seeking to exempt India from a law that sanctions nations for purchasing military hardware from Russia.
Authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, the amendment wants the Biden administration to use its authority to exempt India from the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in order to deter aggressors like China.
Though the Senate is yet to take up the issue, the fact that it was not debated separately means that it may have a smooth run in the other House as well. Specifically, Ro Khanna sought a legislative amendment seeking a waiver to India against CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
India has already made the down payment for the $5.4 billion contract with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence system. The waiver for New Delhi and sanctions on Ankara, which also bought the S-400, has left the Turkish state-run media fuming. It is also upset that the Bill passed on Thursday, of which the India-specific amendment is a part, bans sales of an advanced F-16C and its modernisation kits to Turkey.
