Started to deliver S-400 air defense missile system to India. Russia asked questions: Is the relationship between the US and India really that good?Fly into the homes of ordinary people
Shugayev, director of the Russian Federal Military Technical Cooperation Agency, announced that Russia has begun to deliver the S-400 air defense missile system to India, and the first system will arrive in India before the end of the year. For the previously rapidly heating up US-India relations, Russia’s move is obviously killing one stone.
The S-400 air defense missile system is one of the most advanced air defense systems in the world today. However, due to its technical sensitivity, Turkey, which introduced the system before, has had a huge diplomatic turmoil with NATO allies such as the United States, which continues to this day. In view of this, it may be difficult for India to just pick up the bargain without taking any risks.
Source: Oriental IC
Aspirational
On the 14th, the UAE Dubai Air Show, which has an important influence on the Middle East arms market, kicked off. On the first day of the air show, the fifth-generation Russian fighter Su-75 prototype, which was unveiled overseas for the first time, won the world‘s attention.
According to statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, between 2016 and 2020, Russia’s share of the international arms market has fallen by 22%, while imports of arms in the Middle East have increased by 25% during the same period, making it the world’s fastest-growing arms market. Therefore, Russia is determined to win this airshow.
Compared with the United States, which only exhibited the fifth-generation F-35 full-size model, Russia not only shipped the Su-75 prototype to the local area, but also exhibited “Orion-E”, “Sun God”, “Sirius” and “Thunder”. A variety of new types of drones, and dispatched a “Warrior” flight demonstration team equipped with Su-30SM fighters to cheer up the host.
Strong counterattack
From the perspective of arms sales, Russia’s announcement of a supply contract to India on the first day of an important air show clearly means to build momentum for itself and attract attention.
But the problem is not so simple. The contract between Russia and India for the S-400 air defense missile system was signed in 2018. The loss of Russia’s share in the international arms market is mainly due to a 53% drop in arms exports to India.
While India’s military procurement from Russia has fallen sharply, its military procurement from the United States has risen sharply. The United States not only provides India with military equipment such as precision unmanned aerial vehicles, armed helicopters, air defense radars, and missiles for “quasi-ally treatment”, it also includes India under the Indo-Pacific strategic framework.
As India’s long-term main weapons supplier, Russia is naturally unwilling to lose this important customer, let alone losing its influence over India, which has been well-run since the Cold War.
For India, which has been dominated by Russian-made equipment for decades, replacing it with Western-style equipment is neither realistic nor in line with the strategy of finding ways to maximize its own interests. Due to the relative estrangement of Russia-India relations and Russia’s arms sales to Pakistan, Modi’s excessively pro-US diplomatic strategy has aroused dissatisfaction among some people in India.
Test the U.S. and India
Indian media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India next month to sign the Russia-India military technology cooperation agreement from 2021 to 2031, which includes a number of defense, trade, and technology agreements. The delivery of the S-400 air defense missile system obviously has the meaning of laying a good start for the military and technological cooperation between the two sides in the next ten years.
For this reason, India may face sanctions from the United States.
In 2017, the then-U.S. Trump administration signed the “Counter-U.S. Enemy Act with Sanctions”, seeking sanctions against third countries that carry out military-technical cooperation with Russia, Iran, and North Korea. In the same year, Turkey signed an S-400 procurement contract with Russia, and the United States repeatedly warned Turkey not to purchase. In 2019, Russia began to deliver S-400s to Turkey, and the United States subsequently “kicked” Turkey out of the US-led and multi-national F-35 fighter R&D and production project.
Although India believes that it is benefiting from geopolitics, the United States will not really act on itself. However, the United States has previously informed India that if India obtains advanced Russian-made weapons and equipment, it cannot be exempted from the “Counter-U.S. Enemies Act with Sanctions”.
At present, the United States has no final conclusion on whether to sanction India. However, after the United States excluded India and formed another highly targeted military and political alliance with the United Kingdom and Australia, the outside world has already captured the subtle rift between the United States and India—their relationship has not. Not as good as verbal.
Xinmin Evening News reporter Yang Yifan
Editor: Zhao Juling
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