USA against India’s S-400 deal with Russia
The Trump administration has recently warned India against its S-400 deal with Russia. The S-400 is Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was its first foreign buyer. India and Russia signed a $5 billion deal last year in October regarding the same.
A Senior State Department Official came out and said that the S-400 deal with Russia is a big deal. The official completely disagreed with the speculation that increasing military purchase from the US will help to smoothen out the effects of the deal on Indo-US relations. The official said, “I disagree. The S-400 is significant because of what it precludes, in terms of future high-tech cooperation.”
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was instituted the US Congress. This could result in US sanctions on arms purchase from Russia. The official said that if India did buy the missiles from Russia, it will lead to serious implications on the defence ties with the US.
The Trump administration has stated that this deal will send the wrong message to Russia. More so, as it is a time when they are continuing their aggression. The official said, “You can look at the very serious conversation that is taking place with our NATO partner Turkey and the same concerns will apply should India proceed with an S-400 purchase.”
He added, “We don’t commingle highest technology systems. There are threats posed the purchase of an S-400. So that conversation you are seeing played out in Turkey right now.”
The weapons supply of India has diversified over the years. The US has estimated that approximately 60 to 70 per cent of India’s hardware is of Soviet/Russian origin.
It is true that there is a great dependence on Russian hardware. But the jump from 0 to $18 billion investment in the US weaponry is also significant. Should the S-400 deal with Russia be sealed? What do you think?
