Sir,
India has finally concluded its much hyped $5 billion S-400 Triumf Missile deal with Russia, the largest ever in the history of Indo Russia ties, despite the looming threats of sanctions under “punitive” CAATSA of US. This has, once again, reiterated the independent foreign policy outlook of India, the one which India wanted to promote since it got independence. The underlying tenets of Non Alignment are still very much active within our policy making, even though the movement itself has seen a dead end.This deal ,however, has opened the floodgates for multiple level cooperation between India and Russia. The eight other agreements signed at the recently concluded summit stand a clear testimony to this fact.
India and Russia relations have stood the test of time and have been cordial in its entirety, with a minor fall seen in early 1990s. Russia,as the popular saying goes, is our all weather friend as reflected in Putin’s words: “Our relations go beyond military hardware and military exchanges. We paid attention to humanitarian response mechanisms”. These two countries have long forsaken the traditional buyer seller relationship, and now in true sense working as strategic partners. The voices of opposition coming from across the border against the deal are enough for us to fathom the strategic leverage the India has with this deal in force.
Now, what happens on Nov 4, once the US sanctions come into force, isn’t easy to speculate right now, especially when India itself has deepened it’s defence relations with US. But, it’s clear that implicitly US itself wants India to be strong in the Indo Pacific so as to counter the aggressive Chinese postures. Now, a hard time comes for Indian diplomats whereby they have strive hard to rebalance the tilt that this deal has developed.
Ansh Chowdhari
Roop Nagar Jammu
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