Process For S-400 CAATSA Waivers, ‘INFRUS’ & Alternatives To Russian Military High Tech

NEW DELHI: On ‘The Gist‘, Jeff M. Smith, Research Fellow, South Asia, Asian Studies Centre at The Heritage Foundation and Author/Editor of ‘Asia’s Quest for Balance: China’s Rise and Balancing in the Indo-Pacific’ and of ‘Cold Peace: China-India Rivalry in the 21st Century’ in conversation with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.

Jeff Smith discusses the U.S. House of Representatives passing an amendment, authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, that approves an India-specific waiver against the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions for the purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, the process for a waiver, Ro Khanna describing his “bipartisan NDAA amendment as marking the most significant piece of legislation for U.S.-India relations out of Congress since the US-India nuclear deal”, the India-U.S. partnership and bipartisan support for India to defend itself against China’s aggression along the LAC, the legislation that describes the “United States-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) as an essential step to address the latest advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, aerospace, and semiconductor manufacturing”, “collaborations to help ensure the fostering of innovation and facilitate technological advances which continue to far outpace Russian and Chinese technology”, Ashley Tellis’ monograph proposing an INFRUS (India-France-US) pact with the U.S. that would “midwife an Indo-French arrangement” which would “help India to avail of the superb French naval nuclear propulsion technology to build up its own sea-based deterrent,” India’s diversification of military technology and the ‘Make in India’ initiative.