A week after the S-400 missile deal was inked, the US has signalled it hasn’t forgotten its threat of sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Reports on Thursday said US President Donald Trump has said that India “will soon find out” about his decision on the punitive CAATSA sanctions after the $5 billion deal to purchase the S-400 Triumf air defence system from Russia.
Under CAATSA, only Trump has the authority for the waiver to India on weapons deal with sanctions-hit Russia. India inked the deal during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During an interaction with media at the Oval Office of the White House, reported, Trump was asked about the agreement between India and Russia to which he said, “India will find out. Aren’t they?” On a specific question about India, he repeated, “India is going to find out.” As to when that will be, Trump said, “You will see. Sooner than you think.”