Mujib Mashal and Karan Deep Singh
NY Times, Dec. 6, 2021
“The confirmation that the missile defense system deal, first agreed upon in 2018, was going ahead despite threats that it could affect India’s growing relations with the United States signaled that New Delhi was willing to take calculated risks to bolster its defenses against an emboldened China at its borders.”
India and Russia announced expanding defense ties on Monday during a visit by President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi, including the details of a $5.4 billion missile defense system sale to India, despite a risk of sanctions from the United States.
“Supplies have begun this month and will continue to happen,” India’s foreign secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, told reporters about the missile defense system after the meeting between Mr. Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “It is important to note that whether it is us or Russia, we conduct an independent foreign policy.”
The confirmation that the missile defense system deal, first agreed upon in 2018, was going ahead despite threats that it could affect India’s growing relations with the United States signaled that New Delhi was willing to take calculated risks to bolster its defenses against an emboldened China at its borders.
Anton Troianovski contributed reporting from Moscow.
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