ADROIT DIPLOMACY: The timely need to avoid the risk of US sanction following $5 billion defence deal with Russia.

India has finally decided to prioritise its national security interests, despite the threat of US sanctions on countries entering into commercial contracts with Russia. 
                                        
The S-400 acquisition from Russia will surely boost India’s defence. As per the contract, over the next 4.6 years, Russia will sell five S-400 Triumf missiles worth $5.43 billion.

The S-400 Triumf long range air defence missile system has the capability to destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missile and even drones at ranges of upto 400km. It can fire three types of missile and simultaneously engage 36 targets thereby creating a layered defence.

The S-400 missile deal has been an issue of much speculation after the Trump administration’s Countering America’s Adversaries  Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) law came into affect in January which tends to target countries doing business with Russian,Iranian and North Korean companies.

In the current global scenario, India has to play its cards carefully. This requires skill full diplomacy and the need to make a cogent case to the Americans. The benefit of doing this is that it will allow India to expand its relationship simultaneously with its other partner countries without compromising on its strategic interest.

Will India’s adroit diplomacy give US a unique chance to spell out special relations with India?

Will it allow the Trump government to pitch an even handed application of the Countering America’s Adversaries  Through Sanctions Act(CAATSA)?

                                                                                                                   

These are compelling questions but it’s also a fact that the Trump government pitched for a waiver clause in Caatsa, largely keeping India in mind.

The strategic resonance of such  conditions will not be just significant but transformative for future ties  between India's policy makers and the Trump government.

Though India and the US maintain a robust Global Strategic Partnership,by signing the S-400 missile deal, New Delhi has now sent a clear message to the world that its bilateral relationship with one country is independent of that with a third country.