US senators urge Biden to lift sanctions against India for buying Russian S-400 missiles

New Delhi: US Senators and India Caucus co-chairs Mark Warner and John Cornyn wrote a letter to US President Biden urging him to waive Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions against India for buying military weapons from Russia.

According to an ANI report, India signed a USD 5.43 billion deal with Russia for the purchase of five S-400 surface-to-air missile systems during the 19th India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit in New Delhi on October 5, 2019. Dollar agreement signed. Period protection is needed. Following which, Washington indicated that Russian S-400 systems could trigger CAATSA sanctions.

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The report quoted the letter as saying, “While India has taken significant steps to reduce purchases of Russian military equipment, it has a long history of buying arms from the Soviet Union and later Russia. In 2018, India Formally the Russian S-400 Triumph air-defense systems after signing a preliminary agreement with Russia two years ago. We are concerned that the upcoming transfer of these systems will trigger sanctions under CAATSA, which will deter Russia for its malicious behaviour. was enacted to hold accountable for.

The senators said that while they shared the administration’s concern regarding the purchase of Russian equipment and continued Indian integration, such transactions between New Delhi and Moscow were on the decline.

“We share your concerns about procuring Russian equipment and continued Indian integration even with these declining sales. We would encourage your administration to continue to reinforce this concern to the Indian authorities, and to engage constructively with them.” Will encourage them to continue to support the option of purchasing from the equipment,” he was quoted.

“As such, we strongly encourage you to grant a CAATSA exemption to India for its planned purchase of the S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile system. In cases where the waiver would serve the US national security interests. This exemption authority, as written into law by Congress, allows the president additional discretion in enforcing sanctions,” he said.

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