India is unlikely to face punitive American sanctions imposed on countries dealing with Russia and Iran as there is a bipartisan support for India among US lawmakers who will find out a positive solution, the head of a top American business advocacy group has said.
Provisions of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) threaten India and several other close friends and allies of the US with sanctions for engaging in significant transactions with Russia's defence and intelligence sectors.
India is planning to purchase five S-400 Triumf air defence systems for around USD 4.5 billion from Russia.
The Trump administration is also pushing countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November, when the IS reimposes sanctions against Tehran.
Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil during April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of 2017-18 fiscal).
"The momentum that I am seeing is positive. The attitude and intentions (of the Trump Administration) are positive. So hopefully, we will have a positive solution (on the CAATSA and Iranian oil sanctions before the next two + two India US Dialogue)," Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), told PTI.
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Last week, the USISPF held its first annual leadership summit which was attended by top officials from India and the US along with the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Referring to the speeches made by the top lawmakers from both the Republican and the Democratic parties, he said that there is a bipartisan support to India-US relationship and their views on India was "very very" positive.
"Basically, they are saying, here is a country which has such a vital interest, shared valuebut more important someone like Henry Kissinger making a statement that this is the most important relationship US has today," Aghi said.
Referring to remarks of Kissinger, which was closed to the press, the USISPF president said that senior American statesman believes that it is a relationship where the thinking is aligned.
"It does not need work. It needs constant consultations," Aghi said. he said asserting that that's where the USISPF has to play a role to constantly drive the consultation process.
On the CAATSA, he said, "everybody in the US seems to be working on it".
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis wrote a letter to Senator John McCain that they need to find a solution to this so that India is not subject to US sanctions.
"I get a sense is that they will find a solution," Aghi said.
"On Iran sanction, they (the Trump Administration) have given exception to (India's development in) Chhabhar. It is not a legislative issue. It is more of an executive issue. I believe they'll find a solution to that for India," he said.
"My feeling is that there will be a solution by November," he said.
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