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Washington. Two senators in the US on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to implement the punitive provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against India for purchasing the S-400 missile system from Russia. Do not. In a letter to Biden, Senator Mark Warner of the Democratic Party and John Cornyn of the Republican Party urged President Biden that India should be exempted from its provisions under CAATSA keeping in mind the national interest. He said that this is in the national security interest of America.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, ‘We understand your concern regarding the purchase of Russian equipment. We would encourage your administration to continue to vigorously raise this concern with the Indian authorities. Will also continue to support Russian equipment procurement options by engaging constructively with India. In their letter, the two lawmakers wrote that India has taken significant steps to reduce purchases of Russian military equipment, but it has a long history of buying arms from the Soviet Union and later Russia.

Stopping India from buying will have an effect – MP
The lawmakers have written in favor of India – We believe that due to the imposition of CAATSA sanctions in the case of the current S-400 purchase involving India, there may be a detrimental effect on the strategic partnership with India as well as the supply of Russian weapons. The objective of stopping the sale also cannot be achieved.

US lawmakers have written that India has taken significant steps in recent years to reduce imports of Russian military hardware. From 2016 to 2020, Russian arms exports to India declined by 53 percent compared to the previous five-year period. Meanwhile, India has shown willingness to buy equipment from the US. Sales to India have reached US$ 3.4 billion in the fiscal year 2020. These are positive trends in the context of India’s efforts to reduce its dependence on Russian equipment.

Who are Warner and Cornyn
Warner is the chairman of the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Cornyn, on the other hand, is the Senate minority whip for the GOP. Both are co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion agreement to buy five units of the S-400 air defense missile system.

However, the then Trump administration had warned that if India goes ahead with the trade deal with Russia, then sanctions may be imposed on it under CAATSA. The S-400 is touted as Russia’s most advanced missile defense system capable of long-range surface-to-air strikes.