India and Russia are expanding defense ties, despite the prospect of US sanctions

NEW DELHI India and Russia announced the expansion of defense ties on Monday during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi, including details of the sale of a $ 5.4 billion missile defense system to India, despite the risk of US sanctions. United.

Supplies have begun this month and will continue to occur, India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters about the missile defense system following a meeting between Mr Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is important to note that regardless of whether it is us or Russia, we develop an independent foreign policy.

Confirmation that the missile defense system deal, agreed for the first time in 2018, was continuing despite threats that it could affect India’s growing relationship with the United States, signaled that New Delhi was willing to take risks. calculated to strengthen his defense against a bold China on its borders.

India and China have failed to resolve tensions since deadly clashes between the two countries’ troops along their common border last year and their armies remain at military bases in the Himalayas going into a harsh second winter. India may have concluded that the United States would not penalize it for purchasing the defense system because the two countries have worked closely together to address the growing threat from China.

Following Monday’s announcement, the reaction from the Biden administration was not immediately clear.

In 2020, the Trump administration issued sanctions against Turkey for a similar purchase, more than three years after it bought the missile defense system from Russia.

India has deep ties to Moscow and India’s military for decades has relied heavily on Russian equipment. Although the country has diversified its arms imports and moved closer to the United States in trade and defense cooperation, India still relies on Russia for about half of its arms supplies.

The two countries have also set an ambitious target of more than tripling bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2025.

In recent decades, some bases have changed, said Mr. Modi welcoming Mr. Putin. New geopolitical angles have emerged. Among all such variables, Indo-Russian friendship has been constant.

The S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system is one of the most sophisticated in the world, with the ability to achieve multiple targets at a maximum distance of about 250 miles. It is also a more affordable option from the perspective of India, costing it is said that half of that of the American Patriot system. Indian military officials have called it a boost for the country’s military, which has struggled to modernize due to financial strains.

The S-400 deal has more than just a symbolic meaning, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told India’s ANI news agency on Monday. Has a very important practical meaning for an Indian defensive ability.

In addition to the S-400 missile defense system, India and Russia have signed a $ 600 million deal to produce hundreds of thousands of Russian AK-203 rifles in the country and an additional deal to expand cooperation between the countries on military technology for the next decade.

The rifles, which are expected to replace the oldest Kalashnikov rifles used by Indian troops, will be manufactured in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh through a joint venture, according to local media report.

Nandan Unnikrishnan, an expert on India’s relations with Russia at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said Russia offers India an affordable and flexible arms partner.

India does not have the kind of kitten that China has with all our development challenges, said Mr. Unnikrishnan. While American or Israeli equipment is state-of-the-art, the money needed is three times as much.

Mr Unnikrishnan said the dire consequences for India are unlikely because the United States needs an India that is militarily strong to balance China’s growth in the region.

As much as India is taking risks, I sincerely believe that the US will also take risks if they take the path of sanctions, he said. The United States is sophisticated enough to understand that it should not harm its potential allies in a wider war they have.

The fall of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August has worried India and Russia about the common threat posed by regional terrorist groups. The statement issued after Mr. Putin’s meeting with Mr. Modi stressed the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan to guarantee the country’s stability and prevent it from turning back into a center of terror or narcotics.

The leaders stressed that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used for housing, training, planning or financing of any terrorist group, the statement said.

Mr Putin’s trip to India comes after a gathering of Russian troops near Ukraine has prompted Western officials to warn that the Kremlin could plan a large-scale invasion. They have said Russia could face damaging sanctions from the United States and Europe if Mr Putin goes ahead with an attack.

But his visit to India, his first trip abroad since his June summit with President Biden in Geneva, also telegraphed that Russia still has many friends beyond the West.

Anton Troianovski contributed to reporting from Moscow.