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| Russian S-400 Air Defence Missile Systems |
New Delhi - Officially spared from CAATSA sanctions, India will receive advanced S-400 missiles from Russia by the end of 2023. This was announced directly by the CEO of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheyev.
As is well known, India signed a $5.5 billion order with Russia for five S-400 missile systems in October 2018. Initially, it was rumored that deliveries would start in 24 months, but the process was delayed due to a number of factors.
It is known that India has received one S-400 system from Russia. According to reports, the system was delivered in November 2021. Quoted from Eurasian Times., Mikheyev said “The contract with India is being executed successfully. In the near future, we will supply the second regiment. The first one is already provided. More than 200 specialists have been trained. All five regiments will be supplied by the end of 2023 and this date fits perfectly with the contractual obligations.
As is well known, India has indeed avoided US CAATSA sanctions even though it will get advanced weapons from Russia.
For information, CAATSA or Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act is a law that imposes sanctions on countries in the world if they make large economic transactions with Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
This CAATSA has also hit Turkey, which intends to buy S-400 missiles from Russia. However, it should be noted that India has been spared from these sanctions.
Quoted from Outlook India, the US House of Representatives has passed it through a legislative amendment vote approving a waiver for India of the CAATSA punitive sanctions. In particular, this is geared towards the purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia to help deter aggressors like China.
Legislative amendments were passed as part of the en bloc (all together as a unit) amendments during the basic deliberations of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Written and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, the amendments urge the Biden administration to use its authority to grant India a CAATSA sanctions waiver to help deter aggressors like China.