Putin’s India visit next month may coincide with S-400 delivery

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 11

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are slated to visit India next month, said sources here.

Kishida also coming

• Talks between Putin and PM Modi are expected to cover Indian economic forays in Arctic and Siberian Far East
• With Kishida, talks are likely to touch defence and security

Putin is likely to hold the business-end of his interactions on December 6 while dates are still being worked out for Kishida, who has emerged politically stronger after leading his party to a full majority.

It will be a balancing act for India as there is a rising clamour in the US against the Russian S-400 missile defence system, expected to be delivered to India around the same time. Several strategists, including former US NSA John Bolton, have argued against a condition-less US waiver for India’s S-400 purchases. Things would be clearer nearer to Putin’s visit as India is scheduled to hold a two-plus-two meeting of its Defence and Foreign Ministers with their US counterparts towards the end of this month.

Having extended a first-ever $1 billion credit line to Russia, a developed country, talks between Putin and PM Modi are expected to cover Indian economic forays in the Arctic and the Siberian Far East, a vast untapped area with deposits of untapped petroleum, gold, coal and diamonds. With Kishida, talks are likely to touch defence, though in the area of purchases, the Japanese view is that their equipment is expensive for India. Tokyo will also be seeking clarity on its involvement in the development of the North-East as the capacity of the states in this respect is limited.