China, Not Russia Real Reason Behind US Exit From INF Treaty – Indian Analyst

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Rajiv Nayan, a senior research associate at the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, is of the opinion that the US intention behind withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF Treaty, is to destabilise global peace. Speaking to Sputnik, he opined that the likelihood of a similar treaty in the near future between the world's superpowers is extremely low.

READ MORE: Activist on US Plan to Quit INF Treaty: Trump Wants to Be 'Boss Man' Globally

"The primary reason of the withdrawing of the US from the INF Treaty is not Russia. It is China, whom the US wants to stop at the world stage. Definitely, the US will try its best to include China and some other countries, like India, in a treaty akin to the INF. But, I am afraid that such a kind of treaty will not take place in the near future, especially when the US has unilaterally withdrawn in the first place", Rajiv Nayan, senior research associate at the Delhi based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, told Sputnik.

Nayan has expertise in weapons of mass destruction and arms control.  

Washington has been claiming that Russia's 9M729 missile violates the INF Treaty, something that Moscow has rejected. On the contrary, Russian President Vladimir Putin insists that the use of target rockets and the deployment of Mk 41 launchers in Europe since 2014 by the United States is a direct violation of the INF Treaty.

"Perhaps we can negotiate a different agreement, adding China and others. Or perhaps we can't. In which case we will outspend and out-innovate all others by far", US President Donald Trump said in his second State of the Union address.

The INF Treaty, signed by the Soviet Union and the United States on 8 December 1987, was aimed at ending the arms race between the two superpowers. The treaty applied to deployed and non-deployed ground-based missiles of intermediate range (1,000-5,000 kilometres) and short range (500-1,000 kilometres).

READ MORE: Russia Still Open for Further Talks on INF, US Has Time to Save Treaty — Envoy

Analyst Rajiv Nayan observes that "Russia is unlikely to jump into the arms race immediately, as it has enough missiles and other weapons that can ensure its security in the region, especially in the backdrop of a shift in the theatre of war to East Asia from Europe".

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow possesses all military-technical means in order to react to the threat posed by the US withdrawal from the historic Cold War-era treaty.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.