India Going Ahead With Purchase of S-400 Air Defense Systems

India has now reached the ‘conclusive stage’ in the procurement of the S-400 Air Defence Missile Systems.

Key Highlights

  • India will go ahead with the Rs 39,000 crore acquisitions of five advanced S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems from Russia.
  • Recent US law called CAATSA deters countries from buying Russian weapon systems.
  • CAATSA will also be discussed in the inaugural ‘two-plus-two’ dialogue mechanism between India and US. The dialogue will be held between the external and defense ministers and their American counterparts.

Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act

  • The Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
  • It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.
  • India could face US sanctions for purchasing high-value military defense items, in particular, state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf missile defense system, from Russia under the act.