U.S. Arms Sales to India

US-India
Since ending sanctions against India in 2001, the United States has sought increased defense cooperation with and arms sales to India. U.S. arms sales to India have come under greater scrutiny as India's treatment of its Muslim citizens and democratic backsliding raise human rights concerns while India's purchase of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia raises the specter of new U.S sanctions on Narendra Modi's government under CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act).

In 2021, the Biden administration notified Congress of just over than $2.5 billion in potential arms sales to India.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was the world’s largest importer of foreign arms in 2020. From 2016-2020, SIPRI listed India as the second largest global importer, accounting for 9.5 percent of global major conventional weapons imports. Russia is the top seller of arms to India, providing 49% of arms deliveries to India, a 70% decrease from the previous five-year period. Israel and France provided the second and third most weapons to India from 2016-2020. The United States, India's second-largest arms supplier from 2011–2015, delivered roughly half as many weapons to New Delhi in 2016–2020.

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Select Timeline (see official arms sales notifications in the "Government" section further below)

2021

On November 15, Russian news outlet TASS reported that Russia had begun delivering S-400 systems to India ahead of schedule. Alexander Mikheyev, Director General of the Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport, said that "the Indian specialists who will operate the first regiment set have completed their training and returned home" and that "all the materiel of the first regiment set will be delivered to India at the end of 2021."

On October 6, 2021, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman conveyed the Biden administration's frustration with India's pending S-400 purchase to reporters from The Hindu. Sherman called the purchase "dangerous and not in anybody's security interest," but insisted that India and the U.S. still had "a strong partnership" regardless. While it did not appear that the Biden administration would apply CAATSA sanctions on India, on October 26, U.S. Senators and India Caucus Co-Chairs Mark Warner (D, VA) and John Cornyn (R, TX) sent a letter to President Biden encouraging him to waive such sanctions. On October 29, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX.), Todd Young (R-IN.), and Roger Marshall (R-KS.) introduced the CRUCIAL Act, which, would shield India, Japan, and Australia as members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue from CAATSA sanctions.

On August 2, 2021, the Biden administration notified Congress of the potential sale of one Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS) for $82 million. On April 30, 2021, the Biden administration notified Congress of the potential sale of six (6) P-8I Patrol aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2.42 billion.

In March, Senate Foreign Relations chair Bob Menendez (D, NJ) expressed concern about possible Russian S-400 missile purchases by India.

2020

On Feb. 25, 2020, during a visit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, U.S. President Donald Trump announced $3 billion in arms agreements, saying they “will enhance our joint defense capabilities as our militaries continue to train and operate side by side.” The Trump administration notified Congress of nearly $7.9 billion in potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to New Delhi (2017-2020), including more than $150 million for missiles and torpedoes notified to Congress in April 2020. 

Some members of Congress raised concerns about India’s actions in Kashmir and its treatment of Muslims. Senator Bernie Sanders (I, VT) criticized sales to the country in a tweet on February 24. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) tweeted on March 2, “President Trump is engaging in arms deals with Modi while his administration is ethnically cleansing the country’s religious minorities. We must not enable this rise in sectarian violence.”  In 2019, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07) introduced legislation calling on India to remove restrictions on communications in Jammu and Kashmir, and to preserve religious freedom throughout the country. In 2020 and 2021, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended listing India as a Country of Particular Concern.

In a July factsheet, the State Department indicated that it "is committed to further streamlining U.S.-India defense sales." Credible reporting indicated that U.S. changed its interpretation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to make drone exports easier with possible sales to India in mind. The factsheet notes that India was the first country outside the MTCR to have been offered such weapons, an anachronistic statement given that the sale had not yet occurred at the time of the factsheet's publication.

2019

Cross-border skirmishes between India and Pakistan involving weapons from a variety of countries, including the United States, drew international attention to the impact of the arms trade on the multi-decade India-Pakistan rivalry. In August, Moid's government escalated the conflict by revoking Kashmir's autonomous status, deploying military forces, and imposing an internet and phone service blackout in the territory.

2018

On May 30, Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced that U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) would be re-named U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) in recognition of "the increasing connectivity of the Indian and Pacific Oceans." The decision marks a shift in U.S. strategic thinking towards the "broader Asia" concept laid out by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his 2007 speech "Confluence of the Two Seas."

2017

After eight years of inactivity, senior officials from the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia met in Manila to hold talks that would lead to the revival of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), a military cooperation initiative formed in 2009 to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific.

2016

In the annual NDAA, India is designated a "Major Defense Partner," a status held exclusively by India. The designation expedites arms sales to India via two changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR): the first change established "a presumption of approval for export licensing" for India, while the second authorized India as a Verified End User (VEU) for "commercial and military exports."
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) notifications * * because data on direct commercial sales (DCS) is less readily available, it is not included here; for more on DCS sales to India, see the Security Assistance Monitor arms sales database.
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