By Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI (Reuters). – President Joe Biden has been urged by two U.S senators to lift sanctions against India in relation to its acquisition of Russia’s S-400 Air Defense System. The Senators said that such a harsh measure could threaten the growing co-operation.

India inked a deal worth $5.5 Billion with Russia for five surface to air missile systems. It is a defense against Pakistani and Chinese adversaries. The agreement was made in order to end the standoff at their border.

The transfer is causing friction with America, who passed legislation in 2017 that would allow any country to be sanctioned for engaging with Russia’s intelligence or defence sectors.

Republican Senator John Corny, and Democrat Senator Mark Warner sent a Tuesday letter to Biden requesting a waiver on national security grounds and broader cooperation.

The senators wrote that “we believe there’s a national security imperative for waiving sanctions,” in a release.

They said they were concerned the transfer of the Russian systems would trigger sanctions against India under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was enacted to hold Russia accountable for interfering in U.S. elections, cyber hacking and bullying Ukraine.

India has already paid the down payment for the S400 systems. The first batch of missile batteries will be deployed later this year.

For buying similar equipment, last year the United States placed restrictions on Turkey.

Cornyn, Warner and the Senate India Caucus co-chairs said that they share concerns with the Administration about Russia, but warned that sanctions could cause damage to India’s cooperation.

The authors wrote, “We think that CAATSA sanctions could have deleterious effects on a partnership with India while at the same, not achieve their intended goal of deterring Russian arm sales.”

India has cut back its purchase of Russian-made military equipment. This was India’s main source for decades. The 53% decline in Russian arms exports to India since 2016 to 2020 is more than the previous five years.

India’s defense agreements with the United States have increased with sales of $3.4 Billion in the fiscal year 2020. The senators pointed out that these are encouraging trends.

“Imposing sanctions at this time could derail deepening cooperation with India across all aspects of our bilateral relationship – from vaccines to defense cooperation, from energy strategy to technology sharing.”