Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told US legislators that the Pentagon would request that New Delhi stop purchasing Russian weaponry in the future.
On April 6, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that India’s continuous acquisition of Russian weapons equipment was “not in its best interests,” and that Washington will “urge” the New Delhi leadership to swap or buy back some US and allied weapons.
Mr. Lloyd Austin stated that the United States had “the best weapons systems in the world” and will provide them to New Delhi.
“We will continue to work with India to ensure that they recognise that continuing to invest in Russian weaponry is not in their… best interests,” Austin said during a hearing before the Armed Services Committee. The United States House of Representatives.
“The Pentagon’s condition in the future is that India minimise the size of the equipment it invests in and shift to weapons with which the US can collaborate,” the Pentagon’s head stated.
Mr. Lloyd Austin is not the first US official to advocate for more weaponry sales to India. Former President Donald Trump agreed to sell Apache helicopters and Hellfire missiles to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a $3 billion arms deal in 2020.
India is the world’s greatest military importer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The United States is still India’s third major arms supplier. From 2017 to 2021, Washington accounted for only 12% of New Delhi’s lethal weapons imports.
France supplies 27% of India’s imported armaments, while Russia supplies 46% of New Delhi’s military gear.
According to some assessments, 85 percent of India’s significant weaponry systems are still Russian or Soviet in nature. These include the Su-30, MiG-21, and MiG-29 fighters, the T90MS main battle tank, and the Russian-built INS Vikramaditya, the Indian navy’s lone aircraft carrier.
Furthermore, despite tremendous pressure from Washington, New Delhi continues to urge for the purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defence system.
It is unclear which weapons systems Mr. Austin wants India to “cut back” on. Previously, the acquisition of S-400 by allies caused Washington to “come to a halt.” Despite repeated warnings from the US, Turkey purchased the Russian system, prompting the US to suspend delivering F-35 jets in 2019.
Despite constant pressure from the United States to assist its efforts to isolate Russia following its military operation in Ukraine, India refused to abandon its neutral posture and continue to trade with Russia.
The United States must shut up
Russian war equipment proofed it self to be pure junk in the Ukraine. Why would India buy junk