US encourages India to be a bulwark against China, but New Delhi's S-400 deal with Russia leaves the Biden administration on the odd spot
India’s decision to purchase the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system has escalated tensions among three nuclear-armed nations. It has also raised the possibility of punitive action by the US, which is reminiscent of Washington’s sanctions against its NATO ally Turkey. billion deal to purchase five S-400 regiments dates back to October 2018, the first consignment of the military equipment was delivered only recently.
However, the S-400 purchase has begun to blur the fundamental strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi while raising questions on whether the US-India alliance faces the same fate as Turkey-US relations, which was also undermined by a similar S-400-triggered crisis, inviting US sanctions.
''India has made its stand clear that it needs the S-400 and will not go back on its contractual obligation towards the purchase, knowing fully well that US CAATSA sanctions could kick-in,'' said retired Air Vice-Marshal Manmohan Bahadur of the Indian Air Force and a former Addl Director General at the policy think tank Centre for Air Power Studies.
According to Manmohan, the Indian Air Force has a robust and professional testing organisation called ASTE, which would have evaluated all systems on offer. The system might have considered that S-400s are suitable for their weaponry. The sanctions involve banning all US export licenses and authorisations to SSB. They also involve freezing assets and visa restrictions on Dr Ismail Demir and other SSB authorities. from the US Secretary of State’s office in 2020 read, ''Today’s action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement CAATSA Section 231 and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors.
''The lobby’s interest is convincing the US Senate and Congress against sanctions and having them lead the White House on this issue," said Siraj, who is a deputy news editor at TRT World and also works as a surveillance and security system consultant at Dragoman Strategies, an Australian think tank.
''The US has walked an uphill path in building a defence export relationship . He added that this year the Biden administration notified Congress on the potential for over $2.5 billion in arms sales to India. ''While making of US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation initiative in 2005, the US actually broke some of the rules that it had set for Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , hence, made an exception in a way,'' she said, referring to the approved US proposal to lift a global ban on nuclear trade with India. Doing so would be a big step towards sealing a controversial US-Indian atomic energy deal brokered over a decade ago.
Furthermore, according to India's former ambassador to South Korea, Vishnu Prakash, the long-term fundamental defence cooperation between India and Russia is not unusual, and the US acknowledges this fact.
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