Faisal Zahid malik Special Report Karachi
Reports reaching here from Washington and Brussels say that India’s support for Russia over Ukraine issue has been taken very seriously this time by US legislators and Members of European Parliament and sanctions against New Delhi are being actively considered.
US President Joe Biden had already been thinking whether to apply or waive sanctions on India, one of America’s key partners, under the CAATSA law for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia. A senior US administration official has last week dropped such a hint to the US lawmakers.
Meanwhile, at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, several Members of European Parliament have noted criticism that India which aims to be the champion of free and democracy should get exemptions while other nations like Pakistan, Turkey Bangladesh and UAE are criticised for their reluctance to support the West against Russia.
Many American Senators and Congressmen are urging US President that any country which violates US laws should face the consequences.
The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to impose sanctions on any country that has significant transactions with Iran, North Korea or Russia.
Speaking on possible CAATSA sanctions on India, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counter-terrorism last Wednesday that it was for the President Biden to decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India.
“I can assure you that the administration will follow the CAATSA law and fully implement that law and will consult with Congress as we move forward with any of them.
What unfortunately I am not able to say is to prejudge the decisions of the President or the (Secretary of State) on the waiver issue or on the sanctions issue, or whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision,” he said.
CAATSA is a tough US law which authorises the administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US elections.
