U.S. position on CAATSA unchanged despite China’s actions in neighbourhood

News: The United States will not change its position on putting sanctions against India under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act(CAATSA) for buying fighter jets from Russia.

Facts:

• CAATSA: It is a US federal law enacted in 2017 to impose sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia.
• The Act empowers the US President to impose sanctions against countries that engage in a significant transaction with Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
• Concerns: India could face US sanctions for purchasing high-value military defense items, in particular the S-400 Triumf missile defense system from Russia under the act.

Additional Facts:

• S-400: It is an advanced air defence system that can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects — all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.