US Lawmakers Urge Biden Not To Impose CAATSA Sanctions On India For Buying Russian S-400 Air Defence System

Two influential United States Senators on Tuesday (26 October) urged President Joe Biden not to slap provisions of the punitive Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against India for procuring S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system from Russia.

Democratic Party Senator Mark Warner and his Republican colleague John Cornyn wrote a letter to Biden, urging him to grant a national interest waiver to India as provided under CAATSA as this is in US' national security interest.

"We strongly encourage you to grant a CAATSA waiver to India for its planned purchase of the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system. In cases where granting a waiver would advance the national security interests of the U.S., this waiver authority, as written into the law by Congress, allows the President additional discretion in applying sanctions," the two Senators wrote, reports Economic Times.

While Warner is the chairman of the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Cornyn is the Senate Minority Whip for the Republican party. Both the lawmakers are co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, which is the only country-specific caucus in the US Senate.

"We share your concerns regarding the purchase and the continued Indian integration of Russian equipment, even with these declining sales. We would encourage your administration to continue reinforcing this concern to Indian officials, and engaging with them constructively to continue supporting alternatives to their purchasing Russian equipment," they wrote.

India had signed a $5 billion deal with Russia in October 2018 to procure five units of the S-400 missile defence systems, ignoring warning of CAATSA sanctions from the then Trump administrations.

CAATSA is a stringent US law which authorises the administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia.

The two senators also pointed out in their letter that India has taken significant steps to reduce its purchases of Russian military equipment. However, they added that New Delhi has a long history of buying arms from Soviet Union, and later Russia.

"In 2018, India formally agreed to purchase Russian S-400 Triumf air-defense systems after having signed an initial agreement with Russia two years prior. We are concerned that the upcoming transfer of these systems will trigger sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was enacted to hold Russia accountable for its malign behaviour," they said.

The provisions of the Act, including sanctions targetted at Russia's defence and intelligence sectors, serve as an important tool for the US government to limit Russian arms purchase around the world.

"However, in the case of this current S-400 transaction involving India, we believe that the application of CAATSA sanctions could have a deleterious effect on a strategic partnership with India, while at the same time, not achieve the intended purpose of deterring Russian arms sales," the two Senators said.

They also pointed out that US Congress had set up criteria for determining the appropriateness of waiving CAATSA sanctions. The 2019 National Defence Authorisation Act allows the President to issue a waiver if doing so is in the national interest, and if it would not endanger US national security, adversely affect US military operations, or compromise US defence systems, they said.

"We believe that a waiver for India is appropriate for several reasons," the senators argued.

"First, India has taken significant steps to reduce its imports of Russian military hardware in recent years. From 2016 to 2020, there was a 53 per cent drop in Russian arms exports to India compared to the preceding five-year period," the letter reads.

"Meanwhile, India has shown its intent to purchase equipment from the United States, with sales reaching $3.4 billion in FY20. These are positive trends that show India's effort to reduce reliance on Russian equipment, and a desire to take advantage of its new status as a Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) partner," they wrote.

"Second, we believe there is a national security imperative to waiving sanctions. Imposing sanctions at this time could derail deepening cooperation with India across all aspects of our bilateral relationship - from vaccines to defence cooperation, from energy strategy to technology sharing," they said.

"Furthermore, sanctions have the potential to embolden critics within India who warn that the United States will not be a consistent and reliable partner for cooperation, and to thwart the Indian government's efforts and long-term strategy to reduce Russian purchases and reliance on Russian defence hardware," the two senators wrote.

"We share your concerns regarding the purchase and the continued Indian integration of Russian equipment, even with these declining sales. We would encourage your administration to continue reinforcing this concern to Indian officials, and engaging with them constructively to continue supporting alternatives to their purchasing Russian equipment," they said.

"We also propose that your administration establish a bilateral working group to identify ways to promote the security of U.S. technology, and to chart a path forward to develop strategies to enhance U.S.-India military interoperability. We believe these actions reinforce India's status as a Major Defense Partner and will provide another avenue to counter PRC influence in the Indo-Pacific," the letter reads.