Senators urge Biden not to impose CAATSA sanctions on India

Two US senators, one Democrat and one Republican, have urged US President Biden to ‘grant a CAATSA waiver to India for its planned purchase of the [Russian] S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system.’

The senators, Mark Warner and John Cornyn, who are co-chairs of the India Caucus in the Senate, note in a 26 October open letter:

‘While India has taken significant steps to reduce its purchases of Russian military equipment, it has a long history of purchasing arms from the 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 behavior.’

They say that while CAATSA remains an important foreign policy tool, in this context its application ‘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.’

‘Imposing sanctions at this time,’ the senators write, ‘could derail deepening cooperation with India across all aspects of our bilateral relationship – from vaccines to defense cooperation, from energy strategy to technology sharing. 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 defense hardware.’

https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?id=67EC9BC6-B267-4C5B-8ED1-B55CBF0DF685