US President Donald Trump turned down India’s invite to be the chief guest at the Republic Day on January 26 likely over the latter’s S-400 missile defence system deal with Russia and oil imports from Iran despite the United States sanctions. Donald Trump’s decision was conveyed by the US authorities to NSA Ajit Doval, sources said. Another reason to turn down the invitation was Trump’s domestic commitments — State of the Union (SOTU) address around that time.
India had officially sent an invite to Donald Trump in April this year. While the authorities confirmed receiving the invite, they said that the final decision was taken after 2+2 dialogue which happened in September. It should, however, be noted that the US and India ties have lately been under a lot of strain since the latter signed a defence deal with Russia.
While earlier the United States had asserted that the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or CAATSA was not aimed at imposing damage to the military capabilities of its ‘allies or partners’, Donald Trump later said that India will soon find out if CAATSA sanctions will apply to the country after its S-400 defense deal with Russia.
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