Waiver granted on Russia deal narrow: Trump admin

New Delhi/Washington: With India having formally signed the mega $5.4 billion S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile defence deal with Russia — that could technically lead to American sanctions on New Delhi — the Trump administration said the presidential waiver that can be granted by the Congress in this regard is narrow and intended to wean countries off Russian equipment. The US also made it clear that sanctions had been imposed on China for the same acquisition and that a waiver was not country-specific. The US reaction on Saturday was seen as stronger than the one initially issued on Frday. In New Delhi, indications were that the Indian government is likely to take the US into confidence at every step regarding defence purchases from Russia and the reasons behind it are India does not want US sanctions imposed on it. New Delhi is already negotiating a waiver for the S-400 deal.

Meanwhile, government sources also made it clear that there were “no offset requirements” in the S-400 “inter-governmental” deal. Other government sources also said New Delhi would buy the missile systems off the shelf from Moscow and that there was no move to manufacture these missile systems in India.

Meanwhile, a White House National Security Council spokesperson told news agencies in Washington, “The (CAATSA presidential) waiver is narrow, intended to wean countries off Russian equipment and allow for things such as spare parts for previously-purchased equipment. Our recent action to sanction a Chinese government entity for an S-400 delivery underscores the seriousness of our resolve on this issue. The waiver authority is not country-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver.”

On the occasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi, India and Russia had on Friday inked the much-awaited deal for acquisition of the S-400 missile systems from Moscow.

New Delhi had played down the inking of the deal in order to avoid offending and angering the United States.

The United States had reacted on Friday as well, saying its CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act) “is not intended to impose damage to the military capabilities of our allies or partners”, but adding that a waiver “will be considered on a transaction-by-transaction basis” and that “we cannot prejudge any sanctions decisions”.