India must sign S-400 deal with Russia

The freshly concluded 2+2 dialogue between India and US is significant for it happened against the backdrop of the threat of sanctions against governments working with countries, entities and individuals that the US government considers inimical to its interests.

US government issued sanctions on Chinese entities for buying Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 from Russia.

The US issued these sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which is designed to cripple US’s adversaries.

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Under the CAATSA, the US has also imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. While the sanctions on Iran will indirectly hamper the fuel price situation in India, the US has also indicated that India could also attract direct sanctions.

The threat of sanctions looms on India because of its all-weather relationship with Russia, specifically because of the recent decision by the government to purchase the highly sophisticated S-400 Triumf air defence system from Russia.

India, as is well known, has had a history of non-alignment in the post-WW II cold war era. Still, a very young nation, India, under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru articulated and held steadfast to its promise of staying equidistant from both the erstwhile USSR and the US-led western block of countries. India did so as an assertion of its free and sovereign status and with an interest to keep its own priorities ahead of strategic geopolitical goals of the two world powers.

After the collapse of the USSR in the 1980s the world saw at least two decades of a unipolar world in which the USA dominated developments from the south-China sea to West Asia and beyond.

However, since the emergence of China and more recently the re-emergence of Russia as a major influencer of global geopolitics, the world is back to being a multipolar chessboard. This has also seen US’s status as a global economic and military powerhouse diminished because of the rise of communist China and its seemingly inexhaustible ability to out-price rivals.

Trump presidency, thus, feels increasingly insecure. It’s inability to achieve a decisive and favourable end to the Syrian war has also made it wary of Russian resurgence.

US’s fear should not be allowed to affect India-Russia ties or for that matter India’s ties with any country. India-Russia partnership has been the bedrock of our foreign policy over the last fifty years if not more. The upcoming visit of President Vladimir Putin on October 5 for the 19th India-Russian Summit in October too needs to be treated with as much respect and fanfare as the Head of State of a friendly nation like Russia deserves.

Any attempt to curtail it or diminish its importance will only be a portent of future troubles for India as it will send out a message of succumbing to threats of US sanctions. The government should go ahead and sign the S-400 Triumf deal with Russia when Putin is here.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)