WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 11: (L-R) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh, and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar listen as Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (on screen) speaks during a virtual meeting in the South Court Auditorium of the White House complex April 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. India has maintained a neutral stance so far in Russias invasion of Ukraine. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
A $500 million military aid package would reportedly be aimed at ‘weaning’ India off of Russia
US President Joe Biden’s administration intends to woo India into slowing down its defense cooperation with Russia by offering New Delhi a military assistance package that could be worth as much as $500 million, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources.
Russia has long been a major provider of arms to India, especially the more complex weapons systems like fighter jets and attack submarines. Since at least the 2000s, it has been the top seller of weapons to India, with the exception of last year, when France took the lead. The US, Israel, and the UK are also among the major supplies.
India has a policy of decreasing its dependence on foreign supplies by developing the domestic defense sector and has also diversified arms imports in the past years, but Moscow remains its key partner, meeting almost half of India’s needs in the last five years.
According to Bloomberg, Washington hopes the assistance will help draw India away from Russia and closer to the US.
The report comes ahead of next week’s summit of leaders of the Quad – a four-party Indo-Pacific security mechanism – which also includes the US, Japan, and Australia. Washington perceives it as a key component for opposing China, another Asian powerhouse, with which India has a long-standing rivalry.
Like many other non-Western nations, India refused to join the US-led campaign to punish Russia for its military operation against Ukraine. Rather than sacrificing its economic interests by heaping sanctions on Moscow the way the majority of European countries did, New Delhi has been buying more Russian crude at a significantly discounted price.
”FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://www.rt.com/news/555681-us-india-military-aid/
”US WILL TRY AND DO ANYTHING TO STOP RUSSIA BUT I DON’T SEE THAT HAPPENING. INDIA BEEN ALLIES WITH RUSSIA FOR AWHILE NOW – WHY WOULD THEY RUIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP?
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