Joe Biden is now in a catch-22 situation with India. India is due to receive the S-400 Triumf defence missile system from Russia. Under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) India might face sanctions from the US, stated the US diplomat Donald Lu.
However, the US and India have a strong partnership and so does Russia with India. US lawmakers including Republicans and Democrats criticized India for remaining silent during the vote against the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the United Nation’s meet-up. India was among 35 countries to have maintained a neutral position.
This issue was repeatedly highlighted while discussing India-US defence security cooperation, should or should not India be sanctioned under CAATSA for going ahead with its S-400 Triumf deal with Russia. Donald Lu stated that the US is in a catch-22 situation in this regard with India.
As the United States builds a strong alliance with India countering India’s rival China, Joe Biden has taken the sanctions away from India for a while for dealing with Russia.
Donald Lu revealed that India has been since 2016, importing largely from Russia a lot of defence security systems. India had recently withdrawn its contract from Russia to provide the MiG-29 fighter aircraft, anti-tank weapons and helicopters and he foresees that the latest sanctions on Russia, will have other countries do the same.
Lu also stated that due to heavy sanctions on Russia from the US and its allies, Russia will no longer be able to honour the previous contracts of supporting countries with high-tech defence security systems. Which India is worried about. During the rare UN General Assembly, the votes were displayed on the screen where 141 countries voted against and 5 nations remained neutral of which India was also a part of to have maintained absolute neutrality.
