Procuring S-400: Changing Dynamics of Foreign Relations

Despite looming threats of US sanctions, India has received the first of five S-400 air defence weapon systems from Russia. It will be interesting to see how this deal will affect India’s relationship with the US. Will the US impose sanctions as it has done on other countries dealing with Russia or will it choose to spare India, looking at the balance of power in the South Asian region and counter China’s increasing hegemony in the region? The US so far remains non-committal on whether it will waive sanctions on India under CAATSA. Moreover, will India’s affinity towards Russia result in stronger Indo-Russian relations than they have been in the past decade? This commentary will try and analyse India’s, US’, and Russia’s stand along with their reasoning behind taking that stand. It will also touch upon the relationship dynamics of all these countries with China and how this dynamic will have a significant impact in South Asia.