International Affairs Faces Astonishing Catch-22. China and the US Objectify India-Russia Supply Arms Relationship. How will the perplexing battle circumvent a massive hurdle?
The boiling tensions in international affairs have erupted yet again, but this time it is precarious than ever before. Recently, the US expressed its reservations about comprehending India’s procurement of S-400 missiles from Russia. The international provoke had to urge China to divulge its opinion on the matter. China, too, has objections regarding the Moscow-New Delhi agreement to extend military equipment support across borders.
In an exclusive interview, Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, asserted that despite the recent tensions over the international circuit, Russia’s relationship with India is paramount and unshakeable. Trenin also chairs the Foreign and Security Policy Program at Carnegie and has been the centric personage behind handling international probing situations. Russia could not be dictated or influenced by the actions or the strategies of any country, he said, while reiterating the country’s close bilateral ties with India and China.
Trenin further claimed that the Chinese neighbors are not massively intrigued with Russia supplying military equipment to India. China could not go to avert pressure on its international ally or would get accustomed to enthrall the counterproductive attack. Trenin warned the Chinese contingent not to cross the limits or intervene in Russia’s international matters. Even China’s close acquaintances know that it doesn’t like to be public on its stance and rather opts for discretionary tactics.
Russia has unveiled that it won’t allow any obscurity on the Indo-Russia arms relationship, be it China, who has been rigorously trying to rage war on the international forefront. The issues that possess sentimental values and involve national integrity need diligent tackling, and that’s why Russia has affirmed its stance on not adhering to mocking from Beijing.
S-400 Mission, The Real Test of International Prowess
These are testing times for India as it wants to embrace its commitment with Russia and at the same time keep a frivolous check on its US counterpart. Earlier, the US has objectified India’s decision to give its headway to procuring the air defense missile systems. The real test for India is sanctioning the approval from the US for waiving the missile under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
The $5.2 billion S-400 deal between Russia and India has raised eyebrows on the international appeal and is also one of the significant lapses of consternation between New Delhi and Washington. While keeping its close-knitted state of proclamation with the US, it has already briefed that the deal got finalized preceding the CAATSA enforcement under Trump’s jurisdiction.
Although the enforcement of the deal trails back to 2017, its complexities are still perplexing India’s foresight on how to overcome divisiveness. US President Joe Biden has hinted at his concerns over India’s close relations with Russia and believes that the signatory could lead to disparities in its international trade-offs with other countries.
Why is there a retaliation mood of sorts in the international circuit? It eminently arises because of the long-standing confrontation of the US with Russia as they have locked their horns sternly as there is no let-off from it in the foreseeable future. India stands deluded on prioritizing its affairs or standing firm on its ground of procuring the S-400 missile.
Unsurprisingly, it is crystal-clear that the US is maneuvering a plan to pressurize India by holding out the sanction of the deal as the international dealings generally have to get many clearances. It is leaving a doubting strain on India as it knows the deal collapsing could deteriorate its relationship with Russia.
Trenin’s Comments on the correlation of Pressure and Prestige
Experiences swivel the notion that if a country succumbs to pressure, then it is inviting more pressure on the card. The authoritativeness of the other country would get more solidified and secure on its ally, and that would not be an astute state.
” If a country willingly tries to withstand the pressure from the US, then it should be not fretful of the future circumstances. On the other hand, if the US believes that it has some significant operational ties with its Indian counterpart, then it will grant the green signal to the waiver,” Trenin said in a statement.
Pressure and prestige are correlative and interlinked to each other. Withstanding the pressure is one of the most challenging aspects at the helm of bilateral ties, and if India could do that, it will glorify its prestige on the international stage. Trenin reiterated despite the recent bolstering in the ties, India might have to rethink its relationship with Russia.
It is a challenging environment to deal with all the trade-offs and operations secretively and with blindfolded trust between both organizations. The relationship between Russia and India is at its core momentarily, but the alignment of interests on the same page is inevitable if both the countries want to foster the complexions and move ahead surging past.
Russia Mitigating its Route to Extend its Support to India, China involved in the dialogue.
Despite the atrocities in the Line of Control in Eastern Ladakh between India and China during April-May 2020, Russia mitigated the acronym between the two countries. Parallelly, Russian officials showcased perpetuation and determination to bring New Delhi and Beijing to the combined Russia-India-China apex dialogue. The conspiring alleviation wasn’t seen as a promising sign by the two countries, and rather it got claimed that Moscow was trying to mediate the norms; Russia denied it.
Russia sights a future endeavor between the tri-national operations and envisages a route to engage China in dialogues with India. It claims that it is doing it deliberately so that China does not delineate its supremacy on the South Asian countries and specifically, the continent of Eurasia. The efforts need to get pursued cohesively, and a sole determination of Russia could not lead to mitigate the adroit in the relationship between China and India.
The Quad Nations Commitment; A Manifestation of India’s Troubles
India’s irksome began as soon as it penned down the deal with Russia. The Quad Nations, which includes the US, has been India’s primitive commitment. And it is raising questions on the set of decisions opted by the Indian government. The Moscow perception of the Quad-A delusional act by the United States to contain China’s dominance, and the prevalent conversations between the Indians and the Americans suggest that a cantilever getting inaugurated, regarding the same.
He further revoked the notion of the interview that India has to maintain a balanced connection with its two acquaintances US and Russia- as both of them have been in contentious dialogues of confrontation for ages. Will India devise a concrete effort to reduce its ambiguity between bilateral relations? It remains to be seen!
