Before Putin visit: US team led by senator who backed Delhi deal with Moscow meets PM

Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India early next month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with a delegation of US lawmakers on Saturday, led by Senator John Cornyn.

Cornyn was one of the two US senators who recently urged US President Joe Biden to waive sanctions against India over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defence system, saying such a punitive measure would endanger the growing cooperation between India and the US.

A longtime votary of India-US ties, Cornyn was also one of the US lawmakers who attended the Howdy Modi event in September 2019 and is the co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

US Senator John Cornyn’s meeting with PM Narendra Modi is significant, especially since he and Democratic Senator Mark Warner wrote a letter to Biden last month calling for a waiver on the grounds of national security and broader cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit is expected to take place on December 6 and the first consignment of the S-400 is likely to come in by the end of the year.

During the meeting with the US Congressmen, Modi appreciated the support and constructive role of the US Congress in deepening the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared democratic values.

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the US Congressional delegation included senators Michael Crapo, Thomas Tuberville and Michael Lee, and Congress members Tony Gonzales and John Kevin Elizey.

“The Congressional delegation noted the excellent management of the Covid situation in India despite the challenges of a large and diverse population. The Prime Minister noted people’s participation based on the country’s democratic ethos played a key role in managing the worst pandemic of the last one century,” the PMO said.

Modi and the visiting delegation took note of the increasing convergence of interests between the two strategic partners and expressed their desire to further enhance cooperation with an aim to promote global peace and stability.

Views were also exchanged on the potential for enhancing the bilateral relationship and strengthening cooperation on contemporary global issues such as terrorism, climate change and reliable supply chains for critical technologies, the PMO said.

India signed a $5.5 billion deal with Russia in 2018 for five surface-to-air missile systems for air defence against Pakistan and China. The proposed transfer is one of the friction points with the US, which passed a law in 2017 under which any country engaged with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors could face sanctions.

“We believe there is a national security imperative to waiving sanctions,” the senators said in their letter. 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, which was enacted to hold Russia accountable for interfering in US elections, cyber hacking and bullying Ukraine.