It would be “extraordinarily foolhardy” on part of the Joe Biden administration to impose sanctions on India over its purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia, US Senator Ted Cruz has said, PTI reported on Tuesday.

The US administration is equipped under its Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, to impose sanctions on any country that has significant defence deals with Iran, North Korea and Russia.

At a hearing of the US’ Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday, Republican Senator Cruz said that India is a “critical ally [of Washington] across a number of areas”.

“There are reports that the Biden administration is contemplating imposing CAATSA sanctions against India, the largest democracy on Earth, a decision that I think would be extraordinarily foolhardy”, Cruz said.

He said that US-India relations have been hampered under the Biden administration.

At the Senate hearing, Cruz added: “India is not the only country to have voted against us, and against condemning Russia.”

He was referring to India’s decision to abstain from voting on resolutions in the UN General Assembly and Security Council against Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.