ISLAMABAD – The strategic partnership between Russia and India has gone tonew heights as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New-Delhi. Mainobjective of this visit is to sign the $5billion dollar deal of S-400defense missile system.
According to Indian Media this deal has been singed and system is expectedto be delivered by 2020. S-400 is modern anti-aircraft weapon system. Ithas been in service with Russian armed forces since 2007. It has range ofmissiles which are very long, long medium and short. It can shoot down 40targets simultaneously.
Due to this deal US-India relationship has become complicated. In 2016American Congress passed an act which is known as “CAATSA”. According tothis act country buying defense system form Russia, Iran and North Korea,will have to face sanctions from United States.
Trump admission has implemented this act and it sanctioned China and Turkeyrecently for buying defense S-400 from Russia. President Trump has theright to exempt any country from sanctions.
Due to this till now India has been granted relief from sanctions. I thinkreason behind this relief is convergence of United Sates interests withIndia. These are countering China and keep a check on Pakistan.
On the other hand India also wants to upgrade its defense system so that itcan maintain its dominant position in region and counter Pakistan.“According to Indian Experts this deal was very significant step inpartnership with Russia. India had to take calculated risk and protect itsstrategic interests.”
Russia has been main supplier of weapons to India and according to“Stockholm Peace Research Institute Russia accounts 62% of India’s totalweapons imports during last five years.” USA is number two supplier ofWeapons.
New-Delhi and Washington has agreed for joint military exercises in 2019and their nexus is strong and cannot be broken easily. For Russia deal isalso significant and it is not a small matter.
Russia is also pushing for India’s entry into nuclear suppliers group. So ithink USA has to act rationally and it is not in the interest of USA tolose a credible friend like India. But if USA imposes Sanctions on India,then it will be a major blow to the credibility of this strategicpartnership.
This situation will be exploited by Russia and Moscow’s tilt will be moretowards India. Already both countries have trade of $9 billion and haveplans to reach the target of 30 billion dollars by 2025.
BY: Mohammad Asif