US Sanctions Over S-400 Will 'Bring India Closer to Russia' - Defense Analyst

US President Donald Trump has indicated some harsh measures against India for the S-400 deal with Russia. New Delhi concluded the deal with Russia on October 5, asserting that the deal is in its national interest and that the negotiations preceded CAATSA by a long period.
Sputnik

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Any kind of sanctions on India over the S-400 air defense missile system will place a big question mark before Indo-US relations and in fact will prove counter-productive for the US, says a senior defense analyst, who also served in the acquisitions wing of India's Defense Ministry. 

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"It places [a] big question mark before the India-US relation which, had been on the upswing for quite some time. In fact, the sanctions will prove counterproductive and it will further bring India much closer to Russia than ever," Amit Cowshish, a former financial advisor (acquisition) to India's Ministry of Defense, told Sputnik.

India Not to Cut Ties With Russia as Trump Vows 'Swift' Response to S-400 Deal
India and Russia signed a contract for Russia's S-400 air defense system on October 5 during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi. India termed the purchase a necessity for national interest, while hoping for a waiver under the punitive Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

"India will have to live with the sanction. It will have to find alternative ways of meeting the defense requirement, which it thought the USA could meet. On the issue of fighter aircraft, Russia, France, and Sweden will help India anyway as [they] did in the past," Amit Cowshish added.

Except for some aircraft, the US has not sold India any of its major defense equipment or technology, despite several rounds of talks under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative. The Indian government has been looking at countries such as Israel and France, other than Russia, as far as the requirements of armed drones or other defense technologies are concerned.

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

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