Two powerful US Senators , Mark Warner of the Democratic Party and John Cornyn of the Republican Party wrote to Biden on Tuesday, urging him to give India a national interest waiver under CAATSA for buying the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia since it is in America's national security interest.
Warner is Chairman of the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Cornyn is Senate Minority Whip for the GOP
Both are co-chairs of the Senate India caucus, the only country specific caucus in the US Senate
The two senators said in their letter that, while India has taken substantial measures to restrict its acquisitions of Russian military equipment, it has a long history of obtaining armaments from the Russia.
they wrote."Despite dropping sales, we share your worries over the acquisition and continuous Indian integration of Russian equipment." We would encourage your administration to continue emphasising this issue to Indian authorities and engaging in constructive dialogue with them in order to continue pushing alternatives to acquiring Russian weaponry.
The provisions of CAATSA, which include penalties targeting Russia's defence and intelligence industries, are an essential weapon for the US administration in discouraging Russian military acquisitions across the world.
The Senators wrote in the letter that ,waiver for India is justified for a number of reasons
first , in recent years, Russian armament exports to India fell by 53% between 2016 and 2020 as compared to the previous five-year period,
Second, lifting sanctions is necessary for national security. Imposing sanctions at this time might jeopardise expanding collaboration with India in many areas of bilateral relationship, from vaccines to defence cooperation, energy policy to technology exchange," they added.
Third reason sanctions may empower opponents within India who warn that the US will not be a constant and trustworthy partner for cooperation, as well as impede the Indian government's efforts and long-term plan to minimise Russian imports and reliance on Russian defence gear."
