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NEW DELHI / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has warned India against a plan to buy S-400 ground-to-air missiles in Russia when President Vladimir Putin will visit New Delhi this week. week, claiming that such an acquisition would be punishable under US law.
PHOTO FILE: Russian soldiers fly S-400 missile defense systems at Victory Day parade, on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of Nazi Germany's victory over the Second World War , on the Red Square in Moscow, May 9, 2018. REUTERS / Sergei Karpukhin / Photo file
The Indian army needs missile batteries, both as a deterrent against China and to stand out from Pakistan, its traditional rival, because it is able to track and shoot down even stealth fighters, at unprecedented distances.
India and Russia to sign missile deal, estimated at more than $ 5 billion, during Putin's visit to the annual summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will begin Thursday, said a senior aide Kremlin.
But the United States has warned countries that trade with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors that they would be subject to automatic sanctions under a general law called the American Fighting Opponent Act. sanction (CAATSA), which President Donald Trump promulgated last August.
The law aims to punish Putin for the annexation in 2014 of the Ukrainian Crimea, his involvement in the Syrian civil war and his interference in the US presidential elections of 2016.
"We urge all our allies and partners to abandon deals with Russia that may lead to sanctions under CAATSA," said a representative of the US State Department.
"The Administration indicated that the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 was a priority area of intervention, namely new or qualitative improvements in capabilities, including the air defense and missile defense system. -400. "
Last month, the United States imposed sanctions on the Chinese army for its purchase of combat fighters and the S-400 missile system bought from Russia this year.
The United States is also concerned about Turkey's decision, in alliance with NATO, to acquire the Russian missile system as incompatible with the alliance systems.
The government of Modi, caught between the US-Russian crossfire, hopes that the Trump administration will agree to the Russian arms transfer project, officials said in New Delhi.
Minister of National Defense Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters that India was getting closer to buying Russia's air defense system, with which it had long-standing military ties.
"The S-400 air defense system negotiation has been going on for a long time and we are at a stage where it can be finalized," said Sitharaman last week. "We have a great legacy of buying Russian defense equipment".
More than 80% of Indian military equipment was Soviet-origin during the Cold War era, but since its dissolution, New Delhi has diversified its armaments.
The United States is one of its major arms suppliers, having contracted $ 15 billion over the past decade.
The US companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing took the lead in selling hundreds of aircraft to the Indian army to replace its old Russian MiG aircraft.
The Modi government hopes that the Trump administration will not disrupt the growing defense ties with the world's largest arms importer by lifting the sanctions demanded by the US Congress.
The Trump administration had to face conflicting pressure from the US Congress, seeking a hard line on Russia, said Jeff Smith, South Asia specialist at the Heritage Foundation.
"The administration has criticized CAATSA and has fought hard to obtain a derogation for national security at the level of ministerial secretaries, but Congress has denied it," he said. .
"The administration is not only trying to manage competing geopolitical interests, but also relatively strict conditions imposed by a determined Congress to bind to Russia's policies."
Additional report by Vladimir Soldatkin in MOSCOW; Edited by Clarence Fernandez
