Prime Minister Modi and Vladimir Putin met for the last time on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia in November 2019
President Vladimir Putin will visit New Delhi on Monday as billions of dollars of Russian weapons pour into India that is normally subject to US sanctions. Eager to involve India in its efforts to contain China, the US may turn its back this time.
Putin is on his first foreign trip in nearly six months to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India receives Russia’s advanced S-400 missile defense system as part of a five-year arms deal. billion USD. A similar purchase by NATO ally Turkey prompted the United States to bar Ankara from participating in the F-35 advanced fighter jet program.
“It seems that Washington has turned a blind eye because India’s support in the Asia-Pacific region is extremely important to the US,” said Ruslan Pukhov, a member of the advisory board of the Russian Defense Ministry. . “India has sent a strong message to the US that it will not tolerate US sanctions.”
India is part of the Quad with the US, Japan and Australia being shaped as a bulwark against Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Even as US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization tensions with the Kremlin run high as Russia builds up forces near Ukraine, India is betting President Joe Biden’s focus on China will allow The country has increased its defense purchases from Moscow.
Purchases of Russian weapons by US allies could trigger sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. While the US has “called on all of our allies, all of our partners, to abandon dealings with Russia” regarding the S-400 that could trigger sanctions, but they Still undecided on the possibility of a waiver for India, State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a November 23 briefing.
Mr. Price said:
For the Modi government, Putin’s visit is not only meant to strengthen ties dating back to the Cold War. India needs Russia to continue supplying weapons as it is still in the worst border standoff with China. New Delhi also wants a bigger role in Afghanistan, where Russia, along with China and Pakistan, remain key players after the Taliban takeover.
Soldiers march through the ceremonial Rajpath during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on January 26.
According to Tanvi Madan, India Project Director at the Brookings Institution, India will need to keep an eye on Russia’s actions towards Ukraine as this could further complicate New Delhi’s relationship with Washington. “Delhi says they need to do certain things with Moscow because it’s in India’s interest; Washington says they need to do certain things with Islamabad because it’s in the US interest,” she said. “Not liking what the other is doing to its rivals.”
With meetings scheduled between the foreign and defense ministers of India and Russia, Putin’s trip could lead to more orders for India’s Sukhoi Su-30 and MiG-29 fighter jets. as well as 400 additional T-90 tanks, Indian Ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma, told Tass news service last month. There is an agreement to manufacture more than 700,000 AK-203 rifles in India, he said.
According to senior government officials with knowledge of the matter, India will not continue with its plan to build Russian Ka-226T military helicopters locally under the $1 billion deal. Instead, the world’s third-largest military force can buy ready-made replacements for its fleet of more than 320 aging helicopters.
New Delhi is likely to consider deals to buy another 5,000 missiles and about 250 single-launchers of the Igla-S short-range air defense system that India first ordered as its border stand-off with China culminates. point last summer.
An Indian Army Bhishma T-90 battle tank performs during the DefExpo 20 event in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
However, while Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier, Moscow’s share of Indian purchases has dropped to 56 percent from 72 percent in 2015-2019, according to the Research Institute. Stockholm International Peace. At the same time, India has increased purchases of weapons and technology from Europe and Israel, and conducted more military exercises with the Quad countries.
India is also part of an emerging partnership between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, which plans to cooperate on economic and maritime security in the Middle East.
Akhil Bery, director of the South Asia Initiative at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said: “The US may not be happy about India’s decision to buy more weapons from Russia, but will wait and see how much will be done. Many of these deals actually materialize.” “However, the US-India relationship is now arguably stronger, as both sides recognize that China is the biggest geopolitical threat.”
.
