India on Friday justified its “sovereign decision” to buy S-400 Triumf air defence systems from Russia, stating that it was part of its endeavour to keep its armed forces in a state of readiness to deal with security challenges.
The S-400 Triumfs will significantly enhance the air defence capability of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government informed the Lok Sabha, even as New Delhi’s decision to buy the missile system from Russia turned into an irritant in its relations with the United States.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt justified India’s decision to buy the S-400 systems from Russia. “The S-400 Missile is a potent system in terms of its operational capability to provide a continuous and effective air defence system to a very large area. With the induction of this system, air defence capability of the nation will be significantly enhanced,” he informed the Lok Sabha in response to a question from Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM.
India on October 5, 2018 signed a deal to procure five S-400 missiles from the JSC Concern VKO Almaz-Antey of Russia at an estimated cost of about Rs 39,000 crore. The deal put India at risk of being subjected to US sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which former President Donald Trump had signed into law in August 2017.
“(The) government is aware of all developments that may impact procurement of defence equipment. (The) government takes sovereign decisions based on threat perception, operational and technological aspects to keep the armed forces in a state of readiness to meet the entire spectrum of security challenges,” Bhatt informed the Lok Sabha. He also informed that Russia would deliver the S-400 systems to India “as per contractual timelines”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a bilateral summit in New Delhi on December 6 and they are expected to formally announce commencement of the delivery of the S-400 systems to India. But with President Joe Biden’s administration still non-committal on granting India a waiver from the US CAATSA sanctions, New Delhi’s move to start taking delivery of the S-400s emerged as an irritant in its relations with Washington.
The Section 231 of the CAATSA mandates secondary sanctions to any nation entering into high-value deals to procure military hardware from Russia. The US already placed entities in China and Turkey under the CAATSA sanctions for procuring S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.
India has been asking the US to grant it a waiver from the CAATSA sanctions, arguing that it could not abruptly lessen its dependence on military hardware from Russia, given the decades-old defence ties between the two nations. It also pointed out that it needed the S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, in view of escalating tension along the India-China disputed boundary.
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