Biden will decide whether to ban or exempt India from buying S-400 missile systems from Russia

India's S-400 missile protection system deal may also be in trouble due to sanctions imposed on Russia. President Joe Biden will decide whether to exempt India from sanctions or implement it under the US Katsa Act.

A senior official of the Biden administration has told this to US lawmakers. Under the CATS Act, the US government can impose sanctions against Iran, North Korea or any country that has major transactions with Russia. This law is called the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Katsa is a harsh US law. It was created after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Its purpose is to stop the purchase of weapons from Russia to any other country.

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu held discussions with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Wednesday in response to a question about possible Katsa sanctions on India. He said that only President Biden can decide whether to impose or waive sanctions on India.

Lu said the Biden administration would fully comply with the CATSA law and consult the US Congress before taking any action. He said that he cannot say what decision President Biden or the US Secretary of State will take about this. He also cannot say how Russia's attack on Ukraine will affect the decision to sanction or exempt India.

The US minister said that a decision has not yet been taken to take action against India under Katsa. Of course, India is now an important partner of the United States and we look forward to taking this partnership forward. The senior US diplomat said it would be very difficult for any country to buy major weapons systems from Russia as extensive sanctions have now been imposed on Russian banks. Lu said that we have seen the cancellation of MiG-29, Russian helicopter orders and anti-tank weapons orders from India in the last few weeks.

Lu's statement comes at a time when India has been absent during the voting on the motion of condemnation against Russia in the United Nations. For this, the lawmakers of both the Democrat and Republican parties of America are strongly criticizing India.

In October 2018, India signed an agreement to purchase the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Even after the warnings of the then Trump government, India had made this agreement of five billion dollars with Russia. Under this, the first consignment has been received by India. America has imposed sanctions on Turkey for the purchase of this system.