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Rabat – India is planning to deploy two regiments armed with Russian S-400 defense systems in 2022, defying significant US pressure. India is treading in unknown waters as it faces the ire of the US which has used its economic and military might to discourage nations from considering S-400 purchases.
Indian decision-makers will be well aware of the risk they are taking. India appears to expect the US to grant a “waiver” as the purchase violates a US act that aims to punish countries that purchase weapons from US adversaries.
Turkey felt the brunt of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), with the US kicking the NATO-ally out of the F-35 program and implementing sanctions on Turkish defense officials.
Read also: NATO Holds Collective Breath as Turkey Prepares to Fire S-400 Missile
The US now faces a predicament, as it sees India as a crucial ally in its efforts to present China as a global threat, yet Washington can be accused of double standards if it does not exert similar pressure on India as it has on Turkey.
The first elements of India’s planned S-400 systems have already arrived on the sub-continent, according to the Hindustan Times which cited Russian diplomats.
New Delhi’s sudden move could cause an unlikely split between the US and India, or it could undermine US efforts to deny other nation’s the ability to purchase S-400 systems.
Read also: Western Anti-China Hysteria Reaches Morocco-Algeria Dispute
Russian President Vladmimir Putin is set to meet with Indian Prime-Minister Nahendra Modi on December 6, in what will be Putin’s first foreign meeting aside from a June 16 meeting with US President Joe Biden in Geneva.
Both India and the US see India’s northern border as a potential frontline in the ongoing early phases of the ever escalating second cold war targeting China.
India’s move now presents the Biden administration with a difficult choice: Either Washington risks endangering relations with a key Asian ally, or risks the further proliferation of a Russian air defense system that is evidently superior to the US-made Patriot missile system.
