Washington is seeking to expel Russia from India and Southeast Asia's weapons markets by unfair means, Rakesh Krishnan Simha, a journalist, foreign affairs analyst and military observer, told Sputnik, referring to the US's Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
"The Americans are trying to create a monopoly situation by using an illegal law to shut out Russian arms manufacturers from the arms market," the military observer stressed. "This is not good for anyone as the US will then dictate terms and price its weapons any which way it wants."
Simha opined that the CAATSA is nothing but "an illegal attempt to slow down Russian arms exports because according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) no country can pass laws to restrict free global trade."
"The US is the biggest weapons exporter in the world, surpassing even Russia, which is ranked second by a wide margin. So it's not about competition, but an attempt to increase the scope of sanctions, which have failed to bring down the Russian economy," the journalist said, adding that laws like CAATSA were adopted by Washington "in response to Russia's resilience in the face of sanctions."