India And Russia: The S-400 Deal Appears To Be Entangled

India And Russia: The S-400 Deal appears to be entangled. India, the US, and Russia trapped by screws over S-400, America is under pressure to back out of the deal.

The S-400 deal appears to be entangled in the triangles of India, the United States, and Russia.

The issue of the purchase of the S-400 is going to be very important in the talks of US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, who visited India on Friday.

However, India has already made it clear that the purchase of Air Defense Missile System S-400 is being done keeping in view the strategic needs and there will be no compromise.

But Russia understands the strategy of America’s new Joe Biden government to pressure India on this. Therefore, there is complete preparation for the Russian side as well.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to visit India by the end of next month. His visit is seen to be linked to the S-400 deal with bilateral relations.

America is strategizing to pressure India to back out of the deal.

Before Austin arrived in India, Bob Mendez, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, wrote to him and asked him to raise the issue of S-400 procurement during the visit.

Although he spoke of raising many issues, his attitude towards the purchase of the S-400 system is tauter. Mendez wrote in his letter, ‘We believe that there is no treaty between India and America and that India has an old military relationship with Russia.

Despite this, if India goes ahead with the purchase of the S-400 system from Russia, then it can be taken under Section 231 of KATSA (Law on Banning Opponents) with reference to Russia’s ban on defense equipment.

This letter of US MP Mendez is being seen as a strategy to pressure India. It is worth mentioning that the United States has also banned its Allied Turkey under the Katsa in the S-400 purchase case from Russia.

India is not ready to come under any pressure on the purchase of this security system.

Since the time India has signed an agreement with Russia on this defense deal worth about five billion dollars, the United States has been threatened with sanctions many times.

India has been ignoring American pressure since the beginning. India has refused to come under any external pressure to procure this important security system.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited Moscow last year, urged Russia to supply S-400 soon. There is constant contact between India and Russia on the purchase and acquisition of the S-400.

In January 2021, a large contingent of Indian military officers has also gone to Russia to train for S-400 operations. Russia has recently stated that by the end of 2021, the S-400 system will begin to be supplied to India.