MOSCOW – India to finalise a deal with Russia to buy the medium andlong-range anti-aircraft missile S-400 Triumf. Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman, who was in Russia for a three-day tour, had met the country’sDeputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on April 4 and reviewed the MilitaryTechnical Cooperation between the two countries. She also met Russia’sMinister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and discussed strategies tostrengthen defence production cooperation between the two countries.
But the almost Rs 39,000 crore ($5.5 billion) deal to buy S-400 Triumfmissile system, which is called SA-21 Growler by NATO, would also violateUSA’s sanctions against Russia. USA has been aggressive in expanding itsdefence related ties in recent times while India too is looking at othernations other than Russia for the latest weapons.
According to The New York Times, the deal is being finalised at a time whenUS President Donald Trump “is both weighing more extensive sanctionsagainst Russia and trying to forge a military alliance with India”. Areport by The New York Times quoted geopolitical risk consulting firmEurasia Group Asia director Shailesh Kumar as saying, “In the past fewyears you’ve seen a massive transition where more equipment is being boughtfrom the US.
That’s because the US wants a closer relationship with India, and defensedeals are essentially diplomatic deals. My suspicion is that America willnot deem the S-400 purchase as sanctions-worthy. There’s too much at stakefor bilateral relations. If the US goes for sanctions, it will underminethe goodwill the US has been trying to build up with India over the lasttwo decades.”
India is planning to buy five S-400 Triumf systems. The missile system cantrack and target fighter jets, including stealth aircraft, and missilestoo. It is capable of engaging up to 80 targets simultaneously at adistance of up to 400 km and an altitude of 30 km.
Russia has also signed deals with China and Turkey to supply the S-400Triumf system. India may become the third country to receive the missilesystem.
Till the late 1990s India hardly bought any military hardware from the USAand was overwhelmingly dependent on the erstwhile USSR and later Russia forthe latest weapons. India also bought fighter jets like Mirage 2000 fromFrance and some arms from England even as USA remained an outsider.
But in the last couple of decades, the USA and India have forged a closestrategic partnership. Today, USA is India’s second largest arms supplierbehind Russia.