‘India must choose’: US threatens ‘serious implications’ for defense ties with Delhi over S-400 deal
Washington has warned India of sanctions and implications for their defense ties if New Delhi proceeds with its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air missile defense system, a White House official told a group of reporters on Thursday.
“The S-400 [deal] is significant because of CAATSA sanctions. It’s also significant because of what it precludes, in terms of future high-tech cooperation,” an anonymous senior State Department official is reported as saying by the Times of India.
India may face retaliation for the S-400 defense deal, which it sealed with Moscow last October, under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed by the US Congress to hinder arms purchases from Russia.
The official added that the US is strongly against mixing their systems with foreign ones, saying “there are threats posed by the purchase of an S-400.” That’s why India has to choose where “its military relations [are] headed,” and “with who it [is] going to share the highest technology and that operating environment.”
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Russia’s S-400 is one of the most advanced long-range air missile defense systems in the world. The US insists that it is incompatible with its Patriot systems and pushes other countries to stick to American gear. So far, the threats have failed to stop a steady flow of S-400 orders, with Turkey expecting its first batteries to be delivered this summer despite growing pressure from Washington.
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