US Treasury warns India's banks about business with Russia

A U.S. Treasury official warned India's banks on Wednesday that financial institutions that do business with Russia's military industrial base risk losing access to the U.S. financial system, according to a letter seen by Reuters. "We know that the Russian military relies on importing sensitive goods, like machine tools and microelectronics, and it looks to foreign financial institutions to facilitate these transactions," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the letter to the Indian Banks' Association.

While the letter does not identify a particular concern about India's banks, New Delhi has resisted pressure to distance itself from Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin this month, said it is exploring ways to boost its exports to Russia.

The letter follows an executive order U.S. President Joe Biden issued in December authorizing sanctions against foreign financial institutions that conduct business with Russia's military industrial base, Adeyemo said, and Treasury's recent, expansive interpretation of who is part of Russia's military industrial base.


The Indian Banks' Association could not immediately be reached for comment.

The U.S. is eager to further strengthen its economic relationship with India, Adeyemo also said. Trade between the two countries increased by over 110 percent in a decade, he wrote, and they remain among each other's largest trading partners.

But the U.S. and a global coalition of countries is committed to ending Russia's unprovoked war by depriving it of the "financial and material means to fight," he said, a reference to sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia since its invasion.

He asked the bank group to respond within 30 days with steps they could take with Treasury to make India's companies and financial institutions aware of the U.S. executive order and its ramifications.

"Any foreign financial institution that does business with Russia's military industrial base risks being sanctioned itself, and it could lose access to the U.S. financial system, and likely other financial systems," he said.

Besides the bankers group, the letter was sent to Indian industry associations.