“This is our freedom of choice”: India claims sovereign right to purchase S-400

The issue of the purchase of weapons by India is related to its sovereignty and the country would not want anyone to make recommendations on which states should cooperate with in this matter. This was stated by the country's Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jayshankar during a visit to Washington, commenting on the country's purchase of S-400, according to the NDTV channel.

“We have always argued that our procurement, the choice of suppliers of military equipment is an absolutely sovereign right,” TASS quoted him as saying. “We would not want some state to tell us what to buy or not to buy from Russia, or how some state would tell us what to buy or not to buy from America.”

According to Jayshankar, India is negotiating with the United States about the "fears" of the American side. Nevertheless, the minister emphasized that everyone should recognize the freedom of choice in New Delhi.

“This is our freedom of choice, and we think that it is in the interest of all to recognize this,” the diplomat said.

Speaking about the relations between India and the United States as a whole, Jaishankar noted that they are very warm, but noted that New Delhi’s position on Iran is at odds with the harsh approach of the head of the White House, Donald Trump.

“We look at Iran from the east, and from the east, Iran has so far been a very stable force that maintains the status quo,” the minister said.

“We discuss localization”

Recall that Russia and India signed a contract for the supply of S-400 in October last year. The total amount of the contract is about $ 5.4 billion. In early September, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister for the defense industry Yuri Borisov announced that the installations would be delivered within 18-19 months.

“(Contract. - RT ) has been advanced, and everything will be delivered in strict accordance with the schedule. In my opinion, it’s about 18-19 months there, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

It is also possible to localize the production of some S-400 elements in India, emphasized the head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov in an interview with RBC.

“Yes, we are also discussing localization with India. A lot of equipment for which we sold the license to India: Su-30 planes, then the T-90 tank, Brahmos missiles were created together with them, on their territory, together with their scientists, ”he said.

• T-90 tanks of the Indian army
• Reuters
• © Adnan Abid

However, the USA strongly oppose this contract. According to the CAATSA Act (“Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions”), Washington may impose restrictions on countries that purchase weapons from Moscow. As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview with India Today in late June, the decision on sanctions against India has not yet been made.

“I do not want to get ahead of the decisions that we will make on this score,” he said. - We will respond as partners. We are frank, we are directly talking about our risks, concerns, things that we must do. I know that we will deal with this, too. ”

The USA will continue to put pressure on India, the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter is convinced.

“There is no doubt that Washington will persuade New Delhi not to buy Russian weapons, will exert pressure, although, most likely, non-public. But at the same time, he will not cross borders - if India nevertheless decides to purchase part of the Russian weapons, it will treat this with a certain understanding rather than with obvious hostility, ”he told RT.

Bruter explained that for the United States, India is a country that, "in their opinion, does not allow Russia and China to continue creating a kind of anti-Western bloc in the future."

However, given the launched impeachment process against US President Donald Trump, it is entirely possible that foreign policy actions against India will be curtailed in the near future, said Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the US and Canada Institute.

“I think that at present, given the situation that is developing, there may be a pause related to the intensification of actions against India. Now Washington is not up to it, ”he said in an interview with RT.

“Long-standing, good traditions of cooperation”

Between Russia and India, there are long-standing partnerships in the field of cooperation in the military-technical sphere, a military political scientist, head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Russian University of Economics named in his conversation with RT Plekhanova Andrey Koshkin.

“It must be borne in mind that we have established long, good traditions in the field of military-technical cooperation. Back in Soviet times, India, all in large volumes, purchased our military equipment and weapons, were always satisfied. This cooperation continues with modern Russia, ”he said.

So, according to Dmitry Shugaev, head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FVTS) of Russia, relations between Moscow and New Delhi on the issue of arms contracts are an important part of “privileged strategic interaction”

“Last year and today marked the emergence of a huge portfolio of orders for $ 14.5 billion compared to all other years. This is a very significant figure and, indeed, this is a breakthrough,” he said on September 4.

The United States seeks to counter this with the threat of sanctions, said Koshkin. Nevertheless, the Russian S-400 air defense systems objectively surpass their foreign competitors, including the American Patriot, the expert said.

“Most of all they try to compare with Patriot - they are inferior in terms of price and quality. In terms of quality parameters, our performance characteristics are superior to Patriot. Four times more expensive in the USA, despite the fact that the performance characteristics are worse. S-400 are high-tech missile systems that are the best in the world today, ”the analyst concluded.