*NEW DELHI- *India’s acquisition of the state-of-the art Russian S-400ballistic missile shield could come at the cost of getting access tocutting-edge US military equipment.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, William Thornberry, the Chairman of theHouse Armed Services Committee, said, “The acquisition of this technologywill limit, I am afraid, the degree with which the United States will feelcomfortable in bringing additional technology into whatever country we aretalking about.”
Mr Thornberry, who oversees the Pentagon, all US Military Services and theUS Department of Defence agencies, said the acquisition of the Russiansystem ”threatens our ability to work interoperably in the future.”
Significantly, India’s decision to go ahead with a Rs 40,000 crore-deallink>withRussia for S-400 batteries could come in the way of India acquiring USpredator drones.
Last month, the Trump administration had cleared the export of armed,unmanned drones to close strategic partners such as India. According to MrThornberry, “This is one of the areas where the acquisition of the Russiananti-aircraft system will make the acquisition of that technology somewhatmore difficult.”Promoted: In the Stores
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India maintains a close military relationship with both the United Statesand Russia but it is Russia which has provided the bulk of India’s militaryweapons systems over several decades. Earlier this year, the United Statespassed the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)against Russia for allegedly getting involved in the US election process.This means that the United States could technically place sanctions even onclose partner nations such as India for acquiring Russian weaponry.