India bought the powerful S-400 air defence missile system from Russia, even though the United States had warned that this could lead to sanctions. These US sanctions come under a law called CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), passed in 2017 during Donald Trump’s presidency. This law punishes countries that buy major military equipment from Russia.
Despite the risk, India signed a deal with Russia in October 2018 to buy five S-400 systems for $5.4 billion. Just a month earlier, in September 2018, India had also signed a military agreement with the US (called COMCASA), which allows both countries to share real-time military information. This showed that India was trying to maintain good relations with both the US and Russia.
India told the US that CAATSA is an American law, not an international law, and that its military ties with Russia should not affect its ties with the US. The US said it understood that India is an important ally, and any waiver from sanctions would be decided case by case.
The S-400 systems give India strong air defence. They can detect and shoot down many types of threats like missiles, fighter jets, and drones from a range of 400 km. For example, if placed in Punjab, an S-400 can track aircraft flying over parts of Pakistan.
Russia is still India’s biggest arms supplier. According to a 2024 report by SIPRI, 36% of India’s military imports come from Russia. In 2022, US Congressman Ro Khanna asked the US government to exempt India from CAATSA to help India counter threats from countries like China.
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