Washington [US]:The United States on Tuesday ruled out any potential waiver on CAATSA sanctions for India's purchase of the S400 missile defence system from Russia and said that Washington will continue to have a conversation with New Delhi over arms transactions with Russia.
"We have urged all of our allies and all of our partners to forego transactions with Russia, that may risk triggering sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)," said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on the question of sanction waiver for India.
The comments come a week after India started receiving the supplies of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, and amidst calls from top Republican and Democratic lawmakers not to impose CAATSA sanctions on India. The agreement was signed by the Narendra Modi government for over USD 5 billion.
"We have not made a determination on a potential waver with respect to Indian arms transactions with Russia. CAATSA however, does not have a country-specific waiver provision attached to it," he added.
Price also stated that the US defence relationship with India has expanded and deepened significantly in recent years. "We expect this strong momentum in our defence relationship to continue. We value our strategic partnership with India."