Indian Defence News

[koxinga]

by buying mainly American arms for fear of sanctions or embargos.

Nitpicking but the article speaks of Western sourced arms rather than American so there is a broader dimension. I am also unsure why the author failed to mention South Korea, given their recent successes as well as their sucesses with the K9 Vajra in India. They are one of the few suppliers that would have little qualms to sell without strings attached and do Made-In-India.

But that aside, you are largely right. It is lesser about the quality of Russian arms but maintaining a relationship with another, nuclear armed member of the UNSC

 

[STURM]

With regards to the arms per see for a long time it was only Russia which was able provide what India desired and nobody else. In the coming years however that will change [it already has to an extent] with India gradually becoming more and more self reliant in various key areas.

Relations with the U.S. no doubt will evolve in the coming years but American export restrictions and it's close ties to Pakistan will be of concern to India. You're right about South Korea; it seems an ideal foreign technology provider for many things; it can be argued more so than Israel as far as India is concerned.

 

[John Fedup]

The problem is India will not place all its eggs in one basket so to speak by buying mainly American arms for fear of sanctions or embargos. Another issue is gaining export approval for various things American or the fact that certain things might be downgraded. Strategic relations with Russia go back decades and for a lot of what India needs - complete systems or technology - there is no current alternative to Russia. Also, a lot of what the India buys from Russia isn't obsolete.

Why is India standing with Putin’s Russia?

No one should be surprised that India chose to support Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

www.aljazeera.com

As per @koxinga’s post it isn’t only American kit but also Euro kit. Also his suggestion about SK kit is a good point and as a QUAD member, Japanese kit is a possible option as well.

As for maintaining a relationship with a UNSC member generally supportive of Indian interests, yes that is important but not at the expense of equipping your military with obsolete/vulnerable kit.

 

[STURM]

As per @koxinga’s post it isn’t only American kit but also Euro kit

India is interested not only in outright buys but the technology which comes along with it. I can think of only a couple of European countries willing to share the technology to the extent that India desires. You'll have noticed that India is very selective when it comes to buying European and there's a reason for it.

When it buys Russian there are no worries about embargoes and sanctions and no worries about stuff being downgraded; the same can't be said of buying American and European. France would have been more than happy to sell ASTER 30 and the Americans might have been willing to sell Patriot yet the Indians decided on the S-400. There's a reason for this.

As for maintaining a relationship with a UNSC member generally supportive of Indian interests

It goes beyond that. If you read the link I posted it explains the strategic relationship and why the mutually beneficial relationship has endured

yes that is important but not at the expense of equipping your military with obsolete/vulnerable kit.

What "obsolete/vulnerable" kit has India been buying in recent years? The IAF is very happy with its Su-30s which it has modified with local kit and operates at a systems level. The IN has no issues with its Russian kit and the army; despite being able to source alternatives still decided on various Russian kit which it has no major complaints about.

What it can't source from Russia it sources from elsewhere; when the IAF needed a replacement for its MiG-23s/27s it selected Rafale - part of the reason is that the Su-30 isn't suited for the low level role which the MiG-23s/27s performed and a large part was because India for strategic reasons has always desired a Eastern/Western mix.

If anything it's inherent issues dealing with the Russians rather than Russian kit per see which has been India's main source of grievance. Apart from South Korea another country which on paper is an ideal partner for certain things is Turkey [sone of the stuff the Turks are doing is impressive] but I have no idea how chummy the Turkish/Indian bilateral relationship is.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

India is interested not only in outright buys but the technology which comes along with it. I can think of only a couple of European countries willing to share the technology to the extent that India desires. You'll have noticed that India is very selective when it comes to buying European and there's a reason for it.

When it buys Russian there are no worries about embargoes and sanctions and no worries about stuff being downgraded; the same can't be said of buying American and European. France would have been more than happy to sell ASTER 30 and the Americans might have been willing to sell Patriot yet the Indians decided on the S-400. There's a reason for this.



It goes beyond that. If you read the link I posted it explains the strategic relationship and why the mutually beneficial relationship has endured



What "obsolete/vulnerable" kit has India been buying in recent years? The IAF is very happy with its Su-30s which it has modified with local kit and operates at a systems level. The IN has no issues with its Russian kit and the army; despite being able to source alternatives still decided on various Russian kit which it has no major complaints about.

What it can't source from Russia it sources from elsewhere; when the IAF needed a replacement for its MiG-23s/27s it selected Rafale - part of the reason is that the Su-30 isn't suited for the low level role which the MiG-23s/27s performed and a large part was because India for strategic reasons has always desired a Eastern/Western mix.

If anything it's inherent issues dealing with the Russians rather than Russian kit per see which has been India's main source of grievance. Apart from South Korea another country which on paper is an ideal partner for certain things is Turkey [sone of the stuff the Turks are doing is impressive] but I have no idea how chummy the Turkish/Indian bilateral relationship is.

Well, Turkey has a very good relationship with Pakistan.
They are now supplying several warships and UAVs to that country.