Just do it joe biden should offer india caatsa waiver for the s 400

Just do it joe biden should offer india caatsa waiver for the s 400

The US House of Representatives on Thursday drew on bipartisan support to pass an amendment that urged the Joe Biden administration to extend India a waiver from sanctions that could be triggered by its purchase of Russia-made S-400 air defence system. The S-400 transaction was concluded in 2018. It can therefore fall afoul of CAATSA, a 2017 US law that imposes sanctions on buyers of Russian arms. Biden should offer India a waiver as the amendment makes a compelling case to take a far-sighted view of bilateral ties.

The amendment, authored by Representative Ro Khanna, pointed out that S-400 is needed to deter China. India is the only Quad member to share a land border with China. The amendment also urged the US to take more steps to assist India’s pivot away from its reliance on Russia-made arms. The amendment is in sync with the tenor of the recent bilateral strategic relations. The watershed year was 2008 and since then cumulative US defence contracts with India add up to at least $20 billion. It was just $500 million in the period prior to 2008. Furthermore, in 2016, the US recognised India as a major defence partner. Strategic ties have also been strengthened through groupings such as Quad and now I2U2.

For India, a transition away from Russian platforms is in its strategic interests. Russia’s dependence on China has increased significantly following its invasion of Ukraine, a situation that’s unlikely to change in future. Already, China is next only to India as the second largest recipient of Russia’s arms exports. Given the unravelling of India’s long-standing border management protocols with China, dependence on Russian arms platforms is unwise. Given this backdrop, the Biden administration should respond positively to a rare bipartisan approach in the House of Representatives.