Arming India

President Putin arrived in India on Thursday and is expected to sign off on a billions of dollars arms deal


Editorial October 06, 2018

The global arms trade is vast almost beyond measure. Billions upon billions of dollars support millions of jobs in dozens of countries. In the league tables of arms suppliers Russia is, and has been for decades, at the forefront. Arms manufacturers and national governments have their favoured clients and countries, and the trade impacts directly on the delicate balance of geopolitics. President Putin arrived in India on Thursday, October 4 and he is expected to sign off on a billions of dollars arms deal with Indian PM Narendra Modi which is going to ruffle the feathers of the Americans, the Chinese and Pakistan.

India is going to be asking the US for an exemption from the sanctions that may be thus incurred as the US seeks to limit Russian arms sales by strong-arming those that may be tempted to buy Russian. India has a long history of buying Russian arms and with Russia in bullish mood and Indian equipment sorely in need of replacement and upgrading, its old friend was the obvious choice. There is no guarantee that the US will agree to the waiver even though it is in a complex relationship with India as it seeks to use it as a hedge against Chinese expansionism globally.

India is the world’s biggest arms importer and Russia has now edged in front of the US as largest exporter. Putin and Modi appear to enjoy a warm relationship and have met several times before. Russia also makes arms sales to Pakistan, though not in the same volume as with India, and Russian helicopters are today inducted for anti-terror operations. India has in the recent past expressed concerns about Russian sales to Pakistan and indeed Russia has said that its sales will be ‘limited’. For its part India has said that it is ‘not going to be pushed around by Washington’ and with America eyeing its commitment to Afghanistan and analysts speculating on Pakistan and India fighting a proxy war in that country, the arms trade deserves our close attention.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2018.

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