After the Russia-Ukraine war, western countries along with several non-western nations imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Russia. United States was the first to announce measures from asset freezes, ban on banks and individuals, and then deeper financial sanctions. European Union followed the same day with similar actions, more targeted bans on hundreds of individuals, including freezing all European assets of President Putin and FM Lavrov, and snapping travel ties. Canada was part of the Western ban, announcing new sanctions on a dozen banks and more than 25 newly designated individuals. United Kingdom had a list of its own which is comprehensive. Countries such as Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Singapore even Taiwan also joined western countries for putting sanctions against Russia.
How the Sanctions demands India to comply with it?
US has called more countries to join the sanctions imposed on Russia and especially asked India to follow the sanctions. But India heavily depends on Russia for its defence and energy needs. As the world’s top importer of military hardware, India depends on Russia for its purchases of new equipment, maintenance of existing equipment and joint ventures for manufacturing and technology transfer. Between 2007 and 2017, India’s defence imports from Russia were about $24 billion from a total of $34 billion. The U.S. sanctions, which target most of Russia’s top arms manufacturers, threaten this vital relationship. The sanctions also stand to jeopardise another partnership between India and Russia: in the energy sector. Companies from both countries have invested over $20 billion in each other’s oil industry in the last ten years, steadily expanding their cooperation.
The U.S. has been pushing India to increase its defence procurement from the U.S., and it could use the sanctions to add pressure. In the energy sector, America’s ally, the European Union, is a big importer of Russia’s oil and gas; perhaps as a result, sanctions on Russia’s energy sector have been relatively mild and have not affected India. So far, the U.S. has not imposed secondary sanctions against non-U.S. or non-European individuals or companies for doing business with a sanctioned Russian entity. The U.S. administration might overlook violations of the sanctions by India to meet its critical defence requirements. The proposed ‘John S McCain 2 National Defence Authorization Act for Fiscal 2019’ allows the U.S. president to allow waivers to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in the ‘interests of U.S. National Security’, in a likely reference to India’s concerns. However, India’s long-term defence policy cannot be predicated on waivers granted by a third party or assumptions about how the U.S. will act in a certain situation. Moreover, by seeking a waiver, India tacitly gives credibility to unilateral sanctions.
How India responded to the current sanctions on Russia?
As India has a policy of not following the unilateral sanctions imposed by any country and it only follows the sanctions imposed by UNSC. So, this makes India’s stand clear that it will not compromise its national interest over the sanctions. As due to the sanctions on Russia western companies were decided to leave their business in Russia and this opened a great opportunity for India to invest more. India took the initiatives and invested significantly amid this crisis. Though India has been criticised for its stand over the sanctions but this reflects that how in a multipolar world India is asserting a fair and independent foreign policy.
What should be India’s stand?
India must devise mechanisms to ensure its ability to purchase Russian military hardware and services despite U.S. sanctions. To avoid being sanctioned, it must be able to process payments to Russia via banks in the European Union. It also needs to earn income in Russian Roubles so that it can bypass third-party banks entirely and deal directly with Russia. Finally, India must leverage its status as a large market for energy and defence hardware to conclude strategic deals which can raise its profile within the U.S., making Washington less inclined to include it in its sanctions regime.
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