A Brief History of US Secondary Sanctions on India

5 months ago

In this video, we discuss the history of US secondary sanctions on India. Know about the early strategic tensions and nuclear sanctions to recent developments under CAATSA and escalating geopolitical complexities.

Transcript

00:00American sanctions have targeted India during key moments of strategic divergence,

00:07especially over nuclear tests and defence ties.

00:10India has faced secondary penalties in the past as well.

00:13Let's find out when they happened, why and how India responded.

00:18India conducted its first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, in May 1974 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

00:25The US under President Nixon quickly imposed sanctions including export controls,

00:31technology bans and suspension of nuclear cooperation.

00:35Most Western allies followed suit, except France, which condemned the test verbally

00:40but refrained from punitive measures, maintaining cooperation in nuclear and space sectors.

00:47The Soviet Union, India's close partner, refused to join sanctions

00:51and continued supporting India's energy and security needs.

00:56The 1998 Pokhran II tests were conducted under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

01:03The US, led by President Bill Clinton, imposed far-reaching sanctions under the Glenn Amendment by-law.

01:10These included suspension of all economic and military aid,

01:13blocking export of defence and dual-use technology, halting US government financial assistance,

01:19and opposing loans from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF.

01:25Again, most allies imposed similar sanctions except France, which stopped short of punitive action.

01:32Russia condemned the test verbally but did not join Western sanctions, maintaining strategic ties with India.

01:39The US also pressed India to join the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,

01:46which India refused, citing national security.

01:51Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's UPA government negotiated

01:54Indo-US civil nuclear agreement with President George W. Bush's administration,

01:59and it was initiated in July 2005.

02:02This deal marked the end of India's decades-long nuclear isolation,

02:07which had begun with embargoes and penalties imposed on India after its first nuclear test in 1974.

02:15From 1992, the US applied sectoral sanctions on the Indian Space Research Organization

02:23and its subsidiaries, restricting access to US technology and satellite components.

02:28These were driven by concerns over missile proliferation and India-Russia space cooperation.

02:35These sanctions persisted for nearly two decades and were eased gradually after 2011,

02:41as bilateral ties warmed.

02:45The Countering America's Adversary Through Sanctions Act was passed in 2017 to target Iran,

02:52Russia and North Korea.

02:54India's 2018 purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system raised the possibility of secondary sanctions

03:01under Katsa.

03:02US officials publicly acknowledged considering sanctions for India, but never imposed them.

03:07Instead, in 2022, the US House approved an India-specific waiver under the National Defense

03:14Authorization Act, urging the Biden administration to exempt India acknowledging its strategic partnership

03:20with the US.

03:22Similarly, despite India increasing crude oil imports from Russia during the Ukraine war,

03:27the Biden administration has explicitly ruled out secondary sanctions, focusing on diplomatic persuasion.

03:35In November 2024, the US imposed sanctions on nearly 20 Indian companies and individuals accused

03:42of quote-unquote aiding Russia's military efforts in Ukraine, restricting economic ties with those entities.

03:53In July 2025, President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Indian imports, effective 1st of August,

04:02targeting India's high tariffs and its defence and energy purchases from Russia.

04:08India responded diplomatically, saying it will take all steps to secure national interests.

04:14History suggests that whenever India faced pressure, it displayed resilience and pragmatism,

04:20balancing its core security interests with global partnerships.

04:32The more the EU were more than 5 years ago, and their

04:43interests of the UNESCO had things to improve, you can also seek to Middle East Asia's the

04:45European Union Party, which was a large part of the European Union Party.

04:47In December 2020, the United States was a black-owned wife, which was a black-owned man-owned woman,

04:50which means that it was a black-owned woman, who was a black-owned woman, who was a black-owned man,

04:52the American-owned woman, which is a black-owned man.

04:53The Atlantic Society and the United States of the United States of America

A Brief History of US Secondary Sanctions on India

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended