U.S. lawmakers meet Narendra Modi ahead of S400 delivery
The HinduAhead of the expected year-end delivery of the sophisticated Russian S400 surface-to-air missile defence system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with a high-power U.S. Congressional delegation here on Saturday. Though official statements on both occasions chose to avoid mention of the Russian missile system, three Republican Senators have already moved a bill to exempt India from possible CAATSA sanctions for taking the delivery of the S400 missile system. Though CAATSA was earlier imposed on Turkey after Ankara purchased S400 from Moscow, a similar outcome in case of India is not yet certain as the bill moved by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and others have called for giving India exemption for a decade from the sanctions as India is member of the four-power "Quad" initiative that also includes Australia, Japan and the United States. Last month, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman had warned about a hard decision in case India takes possession of the S400 missile defence system.