New Delhi: Trying to belie a growing belief that India has edged closer to the US since the last few years and cocking a snipe at the US’ threatened sanctions under CAATSA, India and Russia on Monday extended their military-technical cooperation ties for another ten years to 2031 during the meeting between the defence ministers of the two countries.
US’ CAATSA legislation stands for ‘Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act’ on the basis of which the US threatens to impose sanctions on whoever buys weapons from Russia—the provisions India may attract for buying the S-400 air defence and missile systems from Russia.
At the same time, during the 2+2 meeting on Monday, the Indian defence minister seized the opportunity to focus on China with whom India’s ties have come under tremendous strain in the backdrop of border standoffs since May 2020 that has led to massive military mobilization and troop deployments by both sides along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Singh said: “The pandemic, the extraordinary militarization and expansion of armament in our neighbourhood and the completely unprovoked aggression on our northern border since early summer of 2020 have thrown in several challenges.”
“Recognizing that its development needs are colossal and that its defence challenges are legitimate, real and immediate, India seeks partners who are sensitive and responsive to India's expectations and requirements,” the defence minister added.
On Monday, defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart General Sergey Shoigu during the 20th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) inked four pacts which included the contract for procurement of 6,01,427 AK-203 assault rifles to be produced through the Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited.
