This is unlike most past military-diplomatic challenges that India—the world’s biggest importer of weapons—has faced. While being spoilt for choice with both the US and Russia queuing up to sell their military wares to India, it is being forced to walk the tightrope.
While Russia wants to continue selling its weapons to India, the US is making a strong effort to ensure that India doesn’t buy Russian but only US weapons.
India’s dilemma is made more complex by the fact that India, through its ‘Atmanirbharta’ or self-reliance plan, is trying to cut down its dependence on foreign military equipment and instead make the weapons on its own.
But then, making cutting-edge weaponry takes time while China has already made huge advances in military technology and is also collaborating with Pakistan. China has already fielded sizeable numbers of its J-20 fifth-generation stealth aircraft near the Indian borders.
While the US has already offered its cutting-edge fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter aircraft during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit, Russia is very much trying to match up with attractive offers.
On Friday, when Russia signed a deal with India to sell 1,000 HP engines for India’s T-72 tanks came another offer from Moscow—a reiteration to sell and jointly produce the most advanced Russian fighter aircraft Sukhoi Su-57.
The tank deal includes increasing the engine power of T-72 tanks to 1,000 HP from the current 780 HP engines. At present, the T-72 tanks are license-produced at the Heavy Vehicle Factory near Avadi, Chennai.
Speaking in New Delhi, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov laid out the terms of its sale offer. “We are offering our own fifth-generation fighter. We have the best machine, Sukhoi Su-57. We just displayed it at Aero India last month in Bangalore. It is very competitive," the ambassador said.
“We are offering not only to sell but to co-produce. We offer technology sharing. We offer industry with creation of necessary industrial facilities for production. We are open to configuration changes. So this is a very lucrative deal that we offer to India,” he added.
State-owned Russian military export conglomerate Rosoboronexport had earlier announced that India could begin license-producing the Su-57 by upgrading the existing production line being used for the Su-30MKI fighter which is a mainstay fighter for the Indian Air Force. India has already made about 222 Su-30 fighters at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Russia has also increased the production of the Su-57 from six fighters in 2022 to 12 fighters in 2023, and about 20 in 2024.
On Friday, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also made a strong statement in New Delhi, trying to wean India away from buying Russian military equipment.
“India has historically bought significant amounts of its military equipment from Russia, and we think that is something that needs to end. India is the ‘I’ in BRICS, trying to create a currency to replace the dollar as the global economic currency. These kinds of things do not create the love and affection that we really, deeply feel towards India. We would like those things to end,” he had said.