Take steps to encourage India’s transition away from Russian weapons: U.S. Congressional amendment

The legislative amendment said that such partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies is critical and should continue to be strengthened

A strong U.S.-India defence partnership rooted in shared democratic values is critical to advancing U.S.' interests in Indo-Pacific, three American senators have said in a legislative amendment that urges the Biden administration to encourage New Delhi to accelerate its transition away from Russian weapons.

Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, along with Senators Jack reed and Jim Inhofe, in the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, says that India faces immediate and serious regional border threats from China, with continued military aggression by the Chinese people along the India-China border.

“The United States should take additional steps to encourage India to accelerate its transition away from weapons and defence systems manufactured in the Russian Federation while strongly supporting India's immediate defense needs,” said the amendment.

It said that for its national defence, India relies on weapons manufactured by Russia.

Russia has been a major supplier of military hardware to India. In October 2018, India signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the U.S. that going ahead with the contract may invite sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Russia started delivery of the first regiment of the missile systems in December last year and it has been deployed to cover parts of the border with China in the northern sector as well as the frontier with Pakistan.

“A strong United States-India defence partnership rooted in shared democratic values is critical to advancing United States interests in the Indo-Pacific region,” the amendment said.