US has no objection to India buying Russian missiles

NewsGate Press Network

The US, in an apparent display of growing bond of friendship with India passed a crucial legislation in its House of Representatives on Friday the 15^th of July (IST timeline) stating that it has no objection to an Indian purchase of advance Russian S-400 missiles systems.

The underlining argument was that US must help India to deter aggressors such as China for its security.

The legislation is known as amendment of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) that provides India with waiver against the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

The legislation was authored and introduced by Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna and was passed with an overwhelming majority of 330 to 99 in favour of the amendment.

Ro Khanna’s office in a statement said: “Today, the House passed a historic amendment authored by Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA), Congressional India Caucus Vice Chair and Member of the House Armed Services Committee, to strengthen the U.S.-India defense partnership.”

“The Khanna amendment will affirm the United States’ partnership with India and urge the Biden administration to use their authority to provide India with a CAASTA waiver to help deter aggressors like China.”

“The United States must stand with India in the face of escalating aggression from China. As Vice Chair of the India Caucus, I have been working to strengthen the partnership between our countries and ensure that India can defend itself along the Indian Chinese border,” said Rep. Khanna. “This amendment is of the utmost importance, and I am proud to see it pass the House on a bipartisan basis.”

“It is the sense of Congress that a strong United States-India defense partnership, rooted in shared democratic values, is critical in order to advance United States interests in the Indo-Pacific region; and this partnership between the world’s oldest and largest democracies is critical and must continue to be strengthened in response to increasing threats in the Indo-Pacific regions, sending an unequivocal signal that sovereignty and international law must be respected,” the amendment read.