India is set to ask Russia to fast-track contracted weapon systems as well as urgently rush critical spares for its fighter planes, main battle tanks and submarines amid the ongoing troop confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who left for Moscow on a three-day trip on Monday morning, will also press Russia for air transportation of the spares and related equipment - for Sukhoi-30MKI and MiG-29 fighters, T-90S main battle tanks and Kilo-class submarines - instead of the time consuming route through shipping, sources said.
“The visit will give me an opportunity to hold talks on ways to further deepen the India-Russia defence and strategic partnership. I shall also be attending the 75th Victory Day Parade in Moscow (on June 24),” Singh said.
He will also use the opportunity to brief his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu on the bloody border skirmishes with China during their bilateral meeting. Over 60% of the weapons systems used by the 1.5 million strong Indian armed forces are still of Russian origin, though India has increasingly turned to the US, France and Israel for arms imports over the last 15 years.
China, meanwhile, has cosied up to Russia, emerging as its second-largest client (after India) for military hardware and software needs of its 2.2 million People’s Liberation Army. Over 70% of China’s arms imports now come from Russia.
Apart from seeking to resolve all pending issues, India will also ask Russia to expedite delivery of the five squadrons of S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems under the $5.43 billion deal inked in October 2018.
The S-400 deliveries were originally scheduled to begin from October 2020 and end by April 2023. But the delay in payments due to India working out a mechanism to get around the threat of financial sanctions by the US, under its CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanction Act) law, and some other issues has pushed back the start of deliveries to end-2021.
China, incidentally, has inducted six S-400 batteries under a $3 billion deal inked with Russia in 2014, with the deliveries beginning in January 2018. The S-400 version India will get can detect, track and destroy hostile strategic bombers, jets, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of 380 km.
